Acknowledgment data unit for multiple uplink data units

ABSTRACT

A method for simultaneously communicating with multiple communication devices in a wireless local area network is described. Multiple uplink data units are received that are simultaneously transmitted by multiple second communication devices. The multiple uplink data units include a management data unit and a traffic data unit. An acknowledgment data unit is generated to acknowledge receipt of the multiple data units. The acknowledgment data unit includes (i) an indication that indicates that the acknowledgment data unit is intended for the multiple second communication devices, and (ii) respective acknowledgment information fields for the multiple second communication devices. The respective acknowledgment information fields include a first acknowledgment information field for the management data unit and a second acknowledgment information field for the traffic data unit. The acknowledgment data unit is caused to be transmitted from the first communication device to the multiple second communication devices.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/299,325, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,278,224, entitled “Acknowledgment DataUnit for Multiple Uplink Data Units,” filed on Oct. 20, 2016, whichclaims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/243,769, entitled “Acknowledgment of OFDMA A-MPDU with Multiple TCs,”filed on Oct. 20, 2015, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/252,732, entitled “Acknowledgment of OFDMA A-MPDU with Multiple TCs,”filed on Nov. 9, 2015, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/297,236, entitled “Acknowledgment of OFDMA A-MPDU with Multiple TCs,”filed on Feb. 19, 2016, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/304,570, entitled “Acknowledgment of OFDMA A-MPDU with Multiple TCs,”filed on Mar. 7, 2016. All of the applications referenced above areincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Additionally, this application is related to U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 16/044,234, entitled “Single Acknowledgment Policy forAggregate MPDU,” filed on Jul. 24, 2018.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates generally to communication networks and,more particularly, to wireless local area networks that utilizeorthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM).

BACKGROUND

The background description provided herein is for the purpose ofgenerally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of thepresently named inventors, to the extent it is described in thisbackground section, as well as aspects of the description that may nototherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neitherexpressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the presentdisclosure.

An ever-increasing number of relatively inexpensive, low power wirelessdata communication services, networks and devices have been madeavailable over the past number of years, promising near wire speedtransmission and reliability. Various wireless technologies is describedin detail in the IEEE 802.11 Standards, including for example, the IEEEStandards 802.11a/b/g, 802.11n, and 802.11ac and their updates andamendments, as well as the IEEE Standard 802.11ax now in the process ofbeing adopted, all of which are collectively incorporated herein fullyby reference. These standards and draft standards specify variousmethods of establishing connections between wireless devices. Forexample, in an infrastructure mode, wireless devices must first connectwith a wireless access point and all communications occur via the accesspoint. On the other hand, in an ad hoc mode, wireless devices canconnect and communicate with each other directly, as opposed tocommunicating via an access point.

SUMMARY

In an embodiment, a method for simultaneously communicating withmultiple communication devices in a wireless local area networkincludes: receiving, at a first communication device, multiple uplinkdata units simultaneously transmitted by multiple second communicationdevices, wherein the multiple uplink data units include a managementdata unit and a traffic data unit; generating, at the firstcommunication device, an acknowledgment data unit to acknowledge receiptof the multiple data units simultaneously transmitted by the multiplesecond communication devices, wherein the acknowledgment data unitincludes (i) an indication that indicates that the acknowledgment dataunit is intended for the multiple second communication devices, and (ii)respective acknowledgment information fields for the multiple secondcommunication devices, wherein the respective acknowledgment informationfields include a first acknowledgment information field for themanagement data unit and a second acknowledgment information field forthe traffic data unit; and causing the acknowledgment data unit to betransmitted from the first communication device to the multiple secondcommunication devices.

In another embodiment, a first communication device that simultaneouslycommunicates with multiple communication devices in a wireless localarea network includes a network interface device having one or moreintegrated circuits. The one or more integrated circuits are configuredto receive multiple uplink data units simultaneously transmitted bymultiple second communication devices, wherein the multiple uplink dataunits include a management data unit and a traffic data unit. The one ormore integrated circuits are configured to generate an acknowledgmentdata unit to acknowledge receipt of the multiple data unitssimultaneously transmitted by the multiple second communication devices,wherein the acknowledgment data unit includes (i) an indication thatindicates that the acknowledgment data unit is intended for the multiplesecond communication devices, and (ii) respective acknowledgmentinformation fields for the multiple second communication devices,wherein the respective acknowledgment information fields include a firstacknowledgment information field for the management data unit and asecond acknowledgment information field for the traffic data unit. Theone or more integrated circuits are configured to cause theacknowledgment data unit to be transmitted from the first communicationdevice to the multiple second communication devices.

In an embodiment, a method for communicating an acknowledgment policyfor a data unit in a wireless local area network includes: generating,at a first communication device, a first medium access control (MAC)protocol data unit (MPDU) of an aggregate MPDU intended for a secondcommunication device; generating, at the first communication device, anMPDU delimiter for the first MPDU that indicates an acknowledgmentpolicy for the first MPDU to be followed by the second communicationdevice; generating, at the first communication device, the aggregateMPDU to include the MPDU delimiter, the first MPDU, and one or moresecond MPDUs; and causing the aggregate MPDU to be transmitted from thefirst communication device to the second communication device.

In another embodiment, a method for simultaneously communicating withmultiple communication devices in a wireless local area networkincludes: receiving, at a first communication device, multiple uplinkdata units simultaneously transmitted by multiple second communicationdevices, wherein the multiple uplink data units include a plurality oftraffic data units that is (i) from a second communication device of themultiple second communication devices, and (ii) includes traffic dataunits corresponding to multiple traffic identifiers; generating, at thefirst communication device, an acknowledgment data unit to acknowledgereceipt of the multiple data units simultaneously transmitted by themultiple second communication devices, wherein the acknowledgment dataunit includes (i) an indication that indicates that the acknowledgmentdata unit is intended for the multiple second communication devices, and(ii) respective acknowledgment information fields for the multiplesecond communication devices, wherein the respective acknowledgmentinformation fields include a first acknowledgment information field forthe plurality of traffic data units; and causing the acknowledgment dataunit to be transmitted from the first communication device to themultiple second communication devices. Generating the acknowledgmentdata unit comprises generating the first acknowledgment informationfield for the plurality of traffic data units to include (i) anidentifier associated with the second communication device, (ii) atraffic identifier bitmap, and (iii) one or more block acknowledgmentbitmaps. Each bit of the traffic identifier bitmap corresponds to arespective traffic identifier value and indicates whether a respectiveblock acknowledgment bitmap of the one or more block acknowledgmentbitmaps is present within the first acknowledgment information field forthe corresponding traffic identifier value. Each bit of a blockacknowledgment bitmap of the one or more block acknowledgment bitmapsindicates an acknowledgment of a single data unit of the plurality oftraffic data units having the corresponding traffic identifier value.

In another embodiment, a method for simultaneously communicating withmultiple communication devices in a wireless local area networkincludes: receiving, at a first communication device, multiple uplinkdata units simultaneously transmitted by multiple second communicationdevices, wherein the multiple uplink data units include a plurality oftraffic data units that is (i) from a second communication device of themultiple second communication devices, and (ii) includes traffic dataunits corresponding to multiple traffic identifier values; generating,at the first communication device, an acknowledgment data unit toacknowledge receipt of the multiple data units simultaneouslytransmitted by the multiple second communication devices, wherein theacknowledgment data unit includes (i) an indication that indicates thatthe acknowledgment data unit is intended for the multiple secondcommunication devices, and (ii) respective acknowledgment informationfields for the multiple second communication devices, wherein therespective acknowledgment information fields include a firstacknowledgment information field for the plurality of traffic dataunits; and causing the acknowledgment data unit to be transmitted fromthe first communication device to the multiple second communicationdevices. Generating the acknowledgment data unit comprises generatingthe first acknowledgment information field for the plurality of trafficdata units to include, for each traffic identifier value of the multipletraffic identifier values to be acknowledged, (i) an identifierassociated with the second communication device, (ii) an acknowledgmenttype indication, and (iii) the traffic identifier value to beacknowledged. The acknowledgment type indication has one or more bitsset to one of a plurality of predetermined values including at least afirst predetermined value and a second predetermined value. The firstpredetermined value indicates a normal acknowledgment of a single dataunit for the corresponding traffic identifier value. The secondpredetermined value indicates that a block acknowledgment bitmap followsthe traffic identifier value to be acknowledged, where each bit of theblock acknowledgment bitmap indicates an acknowledgment of a single dataunit of the plurality of traffic data units having the correspondingtraffic identifier value.

In another embodiment, a method for acknowledging data units in awireless local area network includes: receiving, at a firstcommunication device and from a second communication device, anaggregate medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (MPDU) A-MPDUthat includes multiple data units, wherein the multiple data unitscorrespond to two or more traffic classes identified by differenttraffic identifiers; generating, at the first communication device, anacknowledgment data unit to acknowledge receipt of the multiple dataunits, wherein the acknowledgment data unit includes (i) an indicationthat indicates that the acknowledgment data unit is intended for thesecond communication device, and (ii) respective acknowledgmentinformation fields for the two or more traffic classes; and causing theacknowledgment data unit to be transmitted from the first communicationdevice to the second communication device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example wireless local area network(WLAN), according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2A is a diagram of an example orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexing (OFDM) data unit, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2B is a diagram of an example orthogonal frequency divisionmultiple access (OFDMA) data unit, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3A is a diagram of an example medium access control (MAC) protocoldata unit for a data frame, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3B is a diagram of an example MPDU for acknowledgment of anaggregate MPDU (A-MPDU), according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4A, FIG. 4B, and FIG. 4C are diagrams of an example blockacknowledgment (BA) control field, BA information field, and per trafficidentification (TID) information subfield, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, and FIG. 5C are diagrams of an example A-MPDU, anexample A-MPDU subframe, and an example MPDU delimiter, according to anembodiment.

FIG. 6A, FIG. 6B, and FIG. 6C are diagrams of an example BA controlfield, an example BA information field, and an example per TIDinformation subfield, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B are diagrams of an example BA control field and anexample BA information field, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 8A, FIG. 8B, and FIG. 8C are diagrams of an example BA controlfield, an example BA information field, and an example per TIDinformation subfield, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 9A, FIG. 9B, and FIG. 9C are diagrams of a first example BAinformation field, a second example BA information field, and an exampleper TID information subfield, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 10A, FIG. 10B, FIG. 10C, and FIG. 10D are diagrams of an example BAcontrol field, an example BA information field, an example per TIDinformation subfield, and an example BA starting sequence control field,according to an embodiment.

FIG. 11A, FIG. 11B, and FIG. 11C are diagrams of an example BAinformation field, a first example per TID information subfield, and asecond example per TID information subfield, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B are diagrams of an example BA information fieldand an example per TID information subfield, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 13A and FIG. 13B are diagrams of an example BA information fieldand an example per TID information subfield, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a diagram of an example per TID information subfield,according to an embodiment.

FIG. 15A, FIG. 15B, FIG. 15C, and FIG. 15D are diagrams of an example BAinformation field, an example per TID information subfield, an exampleBA information field, and an example per TID information subfield,according to an embodiment.

FIG. 16A and FIG. 16B are diagrams of an example BA information fieldand an example per TID information subfield, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram of an example method for simultaneouslycommunicating with multiple communication devices in a wireless localarea network, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a flow diagram of an example method for communicating anacknowledgment policy for a data unit in a wireless local area network,according to an embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a flow diagram of an example method for simultaneouslycommunicating with multiple communication devices in a wireless localarea network, according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In embodiments described below, a wireless network device such as anaccess point (AP) of a wireless local area network (WLAN) simultaneouslytransmits independent data streams to multiple client stations and/orreceives independent data streams simultaneously transmitted by multipleclient stations. For example, the AP transmits data for the multipleclients in different orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)sub-channels of an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA)transmission, in an embodiment. Similarly, multiple client stationstransmit data to the AP simultaneously, in particular, each clientstation transmits data in a different OFDM sub-channel of an OFDMAtransmission, in an embodiment. In another embodiment, the AP transmitsdata for multiple client stations using different spatial streams of amulti-user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) transmission.Similarly, multiple client stations transmit data to the APsimultaneously using different spatial streams within an MU-MIMOtransmission to the AP, in an embodiment.

In an embodiment, upon receiving simultaneous transmissions frommultiple client stations, the AP acknowledges receipt of thesimultaneous transmissions by transmitting one or more acknowledgementframes to the client stations. For example, in an embodiment, the APtransmits an OFDMA acknowledgement frame that includes respectiveacknowledgements intended for different client stations in differentOFDM sub-channels, in an embodiment. In another embodiment, the APtransmits an MU-MIMO acknowledgment frame that includes respectiveacknowledgements intended for different client stations transmitted indifferent spatial streams. In yet another embodiment, the AP transmits abroadcast acknowledgement frame in a single user (SU) PHY protocol dataunit (PPDU) or multi-user (MU) PPDU that is broadcast to the multipleclient stations and includes the respective acknowledgements intendedfor the multiple client stations, or a multicast acknowledgement framethat is multicast to the multiple client stations and includes therespective acknowledgements intended for the multiple client stations.The AP acknowledges receipt of simultaneous transmissions from multipleclient stations in other suitable manners, in other embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example wireless local area network(WLAN) 10, according to an embodiment. An AP 14 includes a hostprocessor 15 coupled to a network interface 16. In an embodiment, thenetwork interface 16 includes one or more integrate circuits (ICs)configured to operate as discussed below. The network interface 16includes a medium access control (MAC) processor 18 and a physical layer(PHY) processor 20. The PHY processor 20 includes a plurality oftransceivers 21, and the transceivers 21 are coupled to a plurality ofantennas 24. Although three transceivers 21 and three antennas 24 areillustrated in FIG. 1, the AP 14 includes other suitable numbers (e.g.,1, 2, 4, 5, etc.) of transceivers 21 and antennas 24 in otherembodiments. In some embodiments, the AP 14 includes a higher number ofantennas 24 than transceivers 21, and antenna switching techniques areutilized. In an embodiment, the MAC processor 18 is implemented on atleast a first IC, and the PHY processor 20 is implemented on at least asecond IC. In an embodiment, at least a portion of the MAC processor 18and at least a portion of the PHY processor 20 are implemented on asingle IC.

In various embodiments, the MAC processor 18 and the PHY processor 20are configured to operate according to a first communication protocol(e.g., a High Efficiency, HE, or 802.11ax communication protocol). Insome embodiments, the MAC processor 18 and the PHY processor 20 are alsoconfigured to operate according to a second communication protocol(e.g., according to the IEEE 802.11ac Standard). In yet anotherembodiment, the MAC processor 18 and the PHY processor 20 areadditionally configured to operate according to the second communicationprotocol, a third communication protocol, and/or a fourth communicationprotocol (e.g., according to the IEEE 802.11a Standard and/or the IEEE802.11n Standard).

The WLAN 10 includes a plurality of client stations 25. Although fourclient stations 25 are illustrated in FIG. 1, the WLAN 10 includes othersuitable numbers (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, etc.) of client stations 25 invarious scenarios and embodiments. At least one of the client stations25 (e.g., client station 25-1) is configured to operate at leastaccording to the first communication protocol. In some embodiments, atleast one of the client stations 25 or another communication device (notshown) is not configured to operate according to the first communicationprotocol but is configured to operate according to at least one of thesecond communication protocol, the third communication protocol, and/orthe fourth communication protocol (referred to herein as a “legacyclient station”).

The client station 25-1 includes a host processor 26 coupled to anetwork interface 27. In an embodiment, the network interface 27includes one or more ICs configured to operate as discussed below. Thenetwork interface 27 includes a MAC processor 28 and a PHY processor 29.The PHY processor 29 includes a plurality of transceivers 30, and thetransceivers 30 are coupled to a plurality of antennas 34. Althoughthree transceivers 30 and three antennas 34 are illustrated in FIG. 1,the client station 25-1 includes other suitable numbers (e.g., 1, 2, 4,5, etc.) of transceivers 30 and antennas 34 in other embodiments. Insome embodiments, the client station 25-1 includes a higher number ofantennas 34 than transceivers 30, and antenna switching techniques areutilized. In an embodiment, the MAC processor 28 is implemented on atleast a first IC, and the PHY processor 29 is implemented on at least asecond IC. In an embodiment, at least a portion of the MAC processor 28and at least a portion of the PHY processor 29 are implemented on asingle IC.

According to an embodiment, the client station 25-4 is a legacy clientstation, i.e., the client station 25-4 is not enabled to receive andfully decode a data unit that is transmitted by the AP 14 or anotherclient station 25 according to the first communication protocol.Similarly, according to an embodiment, the legacy client station 25-4 isnot enabled to transmit data units according to the first communicationprotocol. On the other hand, the legacy client station 25-4 is enabledto receive and fully decode and transmit data units according to thesecond communication protocol, the third communication protocol, and/orthe fourth communication protocol.

In an embodiment, one or both of the client stations 25-2 and 25-3, hasa structure that is the same as or similar to the client station 25-1.In an embodiment, the client station 25-3 has a structure similar to theclient station 25-1. In these embodiments, the client stations 25structured the same as or similar to the client station 25-1 have thesame or a different number of transceivers and antennas. For example,the client station 25-2 has only two transceivers and two antennas (notshown), according to an embodiment.

In various embodiments, the MAC processor 18 and the PHY processor 20 ofthe AP 14 are configured to generate data units conforming to the firstcommunication protocol and having formats described herein. In anembodiment, the MAC processor 18 is configured to implement MAC layerfunctions, including MAC layer functions of the first communicationprotocol. In an embodiment, the PHY processor 20 is configured toimplement PHY functions, including PHY functions of the firstcommunication protocol. For example, in an embodiment, the MAC processor18 is configured to generate MAC layer data units such as MPDUs, MACcontrol frames, etc., and provide the MAC layer data units to the PHYprocessor 20. In an embodiment, the PHY processor 20 is configured toreceive MAC layer data units from the MAC processor 18 and encapsulatethe MAC layer data units to generate PHY data units such as PHY protocoldata units (PPDUs) for transmission via the antennas 24. Similarly, inan embodiment, the PHY processor 20 is configured to receive PHY dataunits that were received via the antennas 24, and extract MAC layer dataunits encapsulated within the PHY data units. In an embodiment, the PHYprocessor 20 provides the extracted MAC layer data units to the MACprocessor 18, which processes the MAC layer data units.

The transceiver(s) 21 is/are configured to transmit the generated dataunits via the antenna(s) 24. Similarly, the transceiver(s) 21 is/areconfigured to receive data units via the antenna(s) 24. The MACprocessor 18 and the PHY processor 20 of the AP 14 are configured toprocess received data units conforming to the first communicationprotocol and having formats described hereinafter and to determine thatsuch data units conform to the first communication protocol, accordingto various embodiments.

In various embodiments, the MAC processor 28 and the PHY processor 29 ofthe client station 25-1 are configured to generate data units conformingto the first communication protocol and having formats described herein.In an embodiment, the MAC processor 28 is configured to implement MAClayer functions, including MAC layer functions of the firstcommunication protocol. In an embodiment, the PHY processor 29 isconfigured to implement PHY functions, including PHY functions of thefirst communication protocol. For example, in an embodiment, the MACprocessor 28 is configured to generate MAC layer data units such asMPDUs, MAC control frames, etc., and provide the MAC layer data units tothe PHY processor 29. In an embodiment, the PHY processor 29 isconfigured to receive MAC layer data units from the MAC processor 28 andencapsulate the MAC layer data units to generate PHY data units such asPPDUs for transmission via the antennas 34. Similarly, in an embodiment,the PHY processor 29 is configured to receive PHY data units that werereceived via the antennas 34, and extract MAC layer data unitsencapsulated within the PHY data units. In an embodiment, the PHYprocessor 29 provides the extracted MAC layer data units to the MACprocessor 28, which processes the MAC layer data units.

The transceiver(s) 30 is/are configured to transmit the generated dataunits via the antenna(s) 34. Similarly, the transceiver(s) 30 is/areconfigured to receive data units via the antenna(s) 34. The MACprocessor 28 and the PHY processor 29 of the client station 25-1 areconfigured to process received data units conforming to the firstcommunication protocol and having formats described hereinafter and todetermine that such data units conform to the first communicationprotocol, according to various embodiments.

In various embodiments and/or scenarios, one or both of the AP 14 andthe client station 25 are configured to receive multiple uplink dataunits simultaneously transmitted by multiple second communicationdevices. The AP 14 or client station 25 generates an acknowledgment dataunit to acknowledge receipt of the multiple data units. In someembodiments and/or scenarios, the multiple uplink data units include amanagement data unit (e.g., an action frame, association request, proberequest, probe response, or other suitable management frame) and atraffic data unit (e.g., a data frame, a data+CF-Ack frame, a CF-Pollframe, etc.) In an embodiment, the acknowledgment data unit includes (i)an indication that indicates that the acknowledgment data unit isintended for the multiple second communication devices, and (ii)respective acknowledgment information fields for the multiple secondcommunication devices, where the respective acknowledgment informationfields include a first acknowledgment information field for themanagement data unit and a second acknowledgment information field forthe traffic data unit.

FIG. 2A is a diagram of an example orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexing (OFDM) data unit 200, according to an embodiment. The OFDMdata unit 200 is a physical layer data unit, in an embodiment. The AP 14is configured to transmit the OFDM data unit 200 to the client station25-1 via OFDM modulation, according to an embodiment. In an embodiment,the client station 25-1 is also configured to transmit the data unit 200to the AP 14. In some embodiments, the data unit 200 conforms to thefirst communication protocol and occupies a 20 MHz bandwidth. Data unitsthat conform to the first communication protocol similar to the dataunit 200 may occupy other suitable bandwidths such as 2 MHz, 5 MHz, 10MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, 320 MHz, 640 MHz, etc., for example, orother suitable bandwidths, in other embodiments. The data unit 200 issuitable for “mixed mode” situations, i.e., when the WLAN 10 includes aclient station (e.g., the legacy client station 25-4) that conforms to alegacy communication protocol, but not the first communication protocol.The data unit 200 is utilized in other situations as well, in someembodiments.

In an embodiment, the data unit 200 includes a preamble 201 having anL-STF 202, an L-LTF 204, an L-SIG 206, two first HE signal fields(HE-SIGAs) 208 including a first HE signal field (HE-SIGA1) 208-1 and asecond HE signal field (HE-SIGA2) 208-2, a HE short training field(HE-STF) 210, M HE long training fields (HE-LTFs) 212, and a third HEsignal field (HE-SIGB) 214. In an embodiment, the preamble 201 includesa legacy portion 201-1, including the L-STF 202, the L-LTF 204, and theL-SIG 206, and a non-legacy portion 201-2, including the HE-SIGAs 208,HE-STF 210, M HE-LTFs 212, and HE-SIGB 214.

Each of the L-STF 202, the L-LTF 204, the L-SIG 206, the HE-SIGAs 208,the HE-STF 210, the M HE-LTFs 212, and the HE-SIGB 214 are included inan integer number of one or more OFDM symbols. For example, in anembodiment, the HE-SIGAs 208 correspond to two OFDM symbols, where theHE-SIGA1 208-1 field is included in the first OFDM symbol and theHE-SIGA2 is included in the second OFDM symbol. In another embodiment,for example, the preamble 201 includes a third HE signal field(HE-SIGA3, not shown) and the HE-SIGAs 208 correspond to three OFDMsymbols, where the HE-SIGA1 208-1 field is included in the first OFDMsymbol, the HE-SIGA2 is included in the second OFDM symbol, and theHE-SIGA3 is included in the third OFDM symbol. In at least someexamples, the HE-SIGAs 208 are collectively referred to as a single HEsignal field (HE-SIGA) 208. In some embodiments, the data unit 200 alsoincludes a data portion 216. In other embodiments, the data unit 200omits the data portion 216 (e.g., the data unit 200 is a null-datapacket). In various embodiments, the data portion 216 includes an A-MPDUor an MPDU, for example, the MPDU 300 (FIG. 3A), the MPDU 350 (FIG. 3B),or the A-MPDU 500 (FIG. 5A).

In the embodiment of FIG. 2A, the data unit 200 includes one of each ofthe L-STF 202, the L-LTF 204, the L-SIG 206, and the HE-SIGA1s 208. Inother embodiments in which an OFDM data unit similar to the data unit200 occupies a cumulative bandwidth other than 20 MHz, each of the L-STF202, the L-LTF 204, the L-SIG 206, the HE-SIGA1s 208 is repeated over acorresponding number of 20 MHz-wide sub-bands of the whole bandwidth ofthe data unit, in an embodiment. For example, in an embodiment, the OFDMdata unit occupies an 80 MHz bandwidth and, accordingly, includes fourof each of the L-STF 202, the L-LTF 204, the L-SIG 206, and theHE-SIGA1s 208 in four 20 MHz-wide sub-bands that cumulatively span the80 MHz bandwidth, in an embodiment. In some embodiments, the modulationof different 20 MHz-wide sub-bands signals is rotated by differentangles. For example, in one embodiment, a first sub-band is rotated0-degrees, a second sub-band is rotated 90-degrees, a third sub-band isrotated 180-degrees, and a fourth sub-band is rotated 270-degrees. Inother embodiments, different suitable rotations are utilized. Thedifferent phases of the 20 MHz-wide sub-band signals result in reducedpeak to average power ratio (PAPR) of OFDM symbols in the data unit 200,in at least some embodiments. In an embodiment, if the data unit thatconforms to the first communication protocol is an OFDM data unit thatoccupies a cumulative bandwidth such as 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz,320 MHz, 640 MHz, etc., the HE-STF, the HE-LTFs, the HE-SIGB and the HEdata portion occupy the corresponding whole bandwidth of the data unit.

FIG. 2B is a diagram of an example orthogonal frequency divisionmultiple access (OFDMA) data unit 250, according to an embodiment. TheOFDMA data unit 250 includes a plurality of OFDM data units 270-1,270-2, 270-3, and 270-4 having independent data streams corresponding tofour client stations 25 (STA1, STA2, STA3, and STA4, respectively). Inthe illustrated embodiment, the OFDMA data unit 250 occupies an 80 MHzbandwidth. In other embodiments, the OFDMA data unit 250 occupiesanother suitable bandwidth. In an embodiment, each OFDM data unit 270 isthe same as or similar to the OFDM data unit 200 of FIG. 2A.

Each of the OFDM data units 270-1, 270-2, 270-3, and 270-4 conforms to acommunication protocol that defines OFDMA communication, such as the HEWcommunication protocol, in an embodiment. In an embodiment in which theOFDMA data unit 250 corresponds to a downlink OFDMA data unit, the OFDMAdata unit 250 is generated by the AP 14 such that each OFDM data unit270 is transmitted to a respective client station 25 via a respectivesub-channel of the WLAN 10 allocated for downlink transmission of theOFDMA data unit 250 to the client station. Similarly, an embodiment inwhich the OFDMA data unit 250 corresponds to an uplink OFDMA data unit,the AP 14 receives the OFDM data units 270 via respective sub-channelsof the WLAN 10 allocated for uplink transmission of the OFDM data units270 from the client stations, in an embodiment. For example, the OFDMdata unit 270-1 is transmitted via a first 10 MHZ sub-channel of theWLAN 10, the OFDM data unit 270-2 is transmitted via a second 10 MHzsub-channel of the WLAN 10, the OFDM data unit 270-3 is transmitted viaa 20 MHz sub-channel of the WLAN 10, and the OFDM data unit 270-4 istransmitted via a 40 MHz sub-channel of the WLAN 10, in the illustratedembodiment. In this embodiment, each of the OFDM data units 270-1, 270-2occupies a respective sub-channel having a bandwidth that is less than asmallest channel of the WLAN 10. For example, the smallest channel ofthe WLAN 10 is 20 MHz, and each of OFDM data units 270-1, 270-2 occupiesa respective sub-channel having a bandwidth of 10 MHz, in an embodiment.The OFDM data units 270-1 and 270-2 collectively span the smallestbandwidth channel of the WLAN 10, in an embodiment.

In an embodiment, each of the OFDM data units 270 includes a legacypreamble 251-1 (e.g., including one or more L-STF fields 202, L-LTFfields 204, and/or L-SIG fields 206) and a non-legacy (e.g., HEW)preamble 251-2 (e.g., including one or more HEW-SIG-A fields 208,HEW-STF fields 210, HEW-LTF fields 212, and/or HEW-SIGB fields 214).Additionally, each OFDM data unit 270 includes a high efficiency WLANdata portion (HEW-DATA) 266. In some embodiments, one or more of thedata portions 266 are omitted from the corresponding one or more OFDMdata units 270 (e.g., for a null data frame). In an embodiment, thecontent of each of the non-legacy preambles 251-2 can be variant fordifferent client stations depending on factors such as rate, dataquantity, configuration (e.g., number of antennas, number of supportedmultiple input, multiple output (MIMO) data streams, etc.) of thedifferent client stations.

In an embodiment, each L-STF field, L-LTF field, and L-SIG field of thelegacy preamble 251-1 occupies a smallest bandwidth supported by theWLAN 10 (e.g., 20 MHz). In an embodiment, if an OFDM data unit 270occupies a bandwidth that is greater than the smallest bandwidth of theWLAN 10, then each L-STF field, L-LTF field, L-SIG field, and HEW-SIG-Afield is duplicated in each smallest bandwidth portion of the OFDM dataunit 270 (e.g., in each 20 MHz portion of the data unit 270). On theother hand, each HEW-STF field, HEW-LTF field, HEW-SIGB field, and HEWdata portion occupies an entire bandwidth of the corresponding OFDM dataunit 270, in an embodiment. For example, the OFDM data unit 270-4occupies 40 MHz, wherein the L-STF field, the L-LTF field, the L-SIGfield, and HEW-SIGA field is duplicated in upper and lower 20 MHz bandsof the OFDM data unit 270-4, while each of the HEW-STF field, theHEW-LTF fields, the HEW-SIGB field, and HEW data portion occupies theentire 40 MHz bandwidth of the data unit 270-4, in the illustratedembodiment.

In some embodiments, padding is used in one or more of the OFDM dataunits 270 to equalize lengths of the OFDM data units 270. Accordingly,the length of each of the OFDM data units 270 is padded as needed tocorrespond to the length of the OFDMA data unit 250, in this embodiment.Ensuring that the OFDM data units 270 are of equal lengths synchronizestransmission of acknowledgment frames by client stations 25 that receivethe data units 270, in an embodiment. In an embodiment, one or more ofthe OFDM data units 270 is an aggregate MAC service data units (A-MPDU)(e.g., a very high throughput (VHT) A-MPDU that includes multipleaggregated VHT MAC service data units (MPDUs), an HEW A-MPDU thatincludes multiple aggregated HEW MAC service data units (MPDUs), oranother suitable aggregated data unit that includes multiple aggregatedMAC service data units (MPDUs)), which is in turn included in a PHYprotocol data unit (PPDU). In another embodiment, one or more of theOFDM data units 270 is a single MPDU (e.g., a single VHT MPDU, a singleHEW MPDU, or another suitable non-aggregated data unit) which is in turnincluded in a PPDU. In an embodiment, padding (e.g., zero-padding)within one or more of the A-MPDUs 270 or single MPDUs 270 is used toequalize the lengths of the data units 270, and to synchronizetransmission of acknowledgment frames corresponding to the OFDMA dataunit 250.

In an embodiment, the OFDM data units 270-1 and 270-2 share a legacypreamble 251-1 that occupies the smallest bandwidth of the WLAN 10(e.g., 20 MHz) collectively spanned by the OFDM data units 270-1 and270-2. In this embodiment, each of the OFDM data units 270-1 and 270-2includes a respective HEW preamble 251-2 and a respective data portion266 that each spans a bandwidth smaller than the smallest channel of theWLAN 10 (e.g., 10 MHz, 5 MHz, 2 MHz, or other suitable bandwidth). Inthe illustrated embodiment, the OFDM data units 270-1 and 270-2 includerespective HEW preambles 251-2 and data portions 266 that each spans a10 MHz bandwidth.

FIG. 3A is a diagram of an example MPDU 300 for a data frame, accordingto an embodiment. In various embodiments and/or scenarios, the MPDU 300is included in a downlink (DL) data unit transmitted by the AP 14 to oneor more client stations 25. In some embodiments and/or scenarios, theMPDU 300 is included in an uplink (UL) data unit transmitted by a singleclient station 25 to the AP 14. In some embodiments and/or scenarios,the MPDU 300 is included in each of a plurality of data units within anuplink A-MPDU transmitted by a single client station 25 to the AP 14.

In some embodiments and/or scenarios, the MPDU 300 is included in aplurality of data units of a plurality of uplink A-MPDUs transmittedover respective OFDM sub-channels of an OFDMA transmission by multipleclient stations (e.g., an uplink OFDMA A-MPDU). In some embodimentsand/or scenarios, the plurality of data units correspond to one, two,three, or more traffic classes (TC) or traffic specification identifiedby different traffic identifications (TIDs). In some embodiments, theplurality of data units is transmitted from a plurality of clientstations. In at least some embodiments, the plurality of data units istransmitted from a plurality of client stations and corresponds to oneor more different TIDs.

In some embodiments and/or scenarios, the MPDU 300 is included in adownlink or uplink single A-MPDU transmitted in a SU PPDU. In someembodiments and/or scenarios, the plurality of data units correspond toone, two, three, or more traffic classes (TC) or traffic specificationidentified by different traffic identifications (TIDs).

The MPDU 300 generally corresponds to a MAC frame format as described inthe IEEE 802.11-2012 Standard, in various embodiments. The MPDU 300includes a frame control field 304 (2 octets), a duration/ID field 306(2 octets), a first address field 310-1 (6 octets), a second addressfield 310-2 (6 octets), a third address field 310-3 (6 octets), asequence control field 3112 (2 octets), a fourth address field 310-4 (6octets), a QoS control field 314 (2 octets), a high throughput (HT)control field 316 (4 octets), a frame body 318 (variable number ofoctets), and a frame check sequence (FCS) field 320, in the illustratedembodiment. The number above each field in FIG. 3A indicates the numberof octets occupied by the corresponding field, according to an exampleembodiment. Each of the address fields 310 is a 48 bit (6 octets) fieldthat includes a MAC address of a device associated with the data unit300, such as a transmitting device of the data unit 300, a receivingdevice of the data unit 300, etc.

The QoS control field 314 generally corresponds to the QoS control fieldas described in the IEEE 802.11-2012 Standard, in various embodiments.In an embodiment, for example, the QoS control field 314 includes anacknowledgment policy field 315 having two bits that identify anacknowledgment policy (Ack Policy) that is followed upon delivery of thecorresponding MPDU.

FIG. 3B is a diagram of an example MPDU 350 for acknowledgment of anA-MPDU, according to an embodiment. In various embodiments and/orscenarios, the MPDU 350 is included in an acknowledgment data unit inresponse to a received A-MPDU. In an embodiment and/or scenario, theMPDU 350 is included in an acknowledgment data unit transmitted by theAP 14 to a single client station 25 to acknowledge an uplink data unitreceived by the AP 14 from the single client station 25. In anotherembodiment and/or scenario, the MPDU 350 is included in anacknowledgment data unit transmitted by the AP 14 to multiple clientstation 25 to acknowledge uplink data units simultaneously transmittedby the multiple client stations 25 to the AP 14. In an embodiment, theMPDU 350 is included in an acknowledgment data unit transmitted by asingle client station 25 to the AP 14 to acknowledge a downlink dataunit received by the single client station 25 from the AP 14. In anembodiment and/or scenario, the MPDU 350 is included in each of aplurality of acknowledgment data units transmitted over DL or UL OFDMsub-channels of an OFDMA transmission. In another embodiment and/orscenario, the MPDU 350 is included in an acknowledgment data unit thatspans an entire OFDM communication channel.

In various embodiments and/or scenarios, the AP 14 generates the MPDU350 to indicate an acknowledgment (or negative acknowledgment) of aplurality of data units within a previously received A-MPDU. In someembodiments and/or scenarios, the plurality of data units correspond toone, two, three, or more traffic classes identified by different TIDs.In some embodiments, the plurality of data units is transmitted from aplurality of client stations. In at least some embodiments, theplurality of data units is transmitted from a plurality of clientstations and corresponds to one or more different TIDs for each of theplurality of client stations. In an embodiment, for example, the AP 14receives an A-MPDU that includes a first MPDU with a first TID from afirst client station, a second MPDU with a second TID from the firstclient station, and a third MPDU with the first TID from a second clientstation. In some embodiments, the plurality of data frames of thepreviously received A-MPDU includes a management frame and a request forAck acknowledgement of the management frame.

The MPDU 350 is similar to a Block Ack frame format as described in theIEEE 802.11-2012 Standard, in various embodiments and/or scenarios. TheMPDU 350 includes a frame control field 304 (2 octets), a duration/IDfield 306 (2 octets), a first address (receiver address RA) field 310-1(6 octets), a second address (transmitter address TA) field 310-2 (6octets), a block acknowledgment (BA) control field 352 (2 octets), a BAinformation field 354 (variable number of octets), and a frame checksequence (FCS) field 320, in the illustrated embodiment. The numberabove each field in FIG. 3B indicates the number of octets occupied bythe corresponding field, according to an example embodiment. The BAcontrol field 352 and/or the BA information field 354 are configured toindicate acknowledgments for multiple uplink data units in variousembodiments and/or scenarios, as described herein. The MPDU 350 includesone, two, three, or more instances of the BA information field 354, invarious embodiments and/or scenarios. In an embodiment, for example, theAP 14 generates the MPDU 350 to include one BA information field 354 foreach TID being acknowledged by the MPDU 350.

In an embodiment and/or scenario in which the MPDU 350 is included in aunicast acknowledgment data unit directed to only one client station 25,the first address field 310-1 includes a unicast address, such as aunicast MAC address, corresponding to the one client station 25 or theAP 14. On the other hand, in an embodiment and/or scenario in which theMPDU 350 is included in a broadcast acknowledgment data unit directed tomultiple client stations 25, the first address field 310-1 includes abroadcast address, such as a broadcast MAC address, to indicate that theacknowledgment data unit is directed to multiple client stations 25.

FIG. 4A, FIG. 4B, and FIG. 4C are diagrams of an example BA controlfield 400, an example BA information field 420, and an example pertraffic identification (TID) information subfield 440, according to anembodiment. The number below each field in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4C indicatesthe number of bits occupied by the corresponding subfield, according toan example embodiment. The number above each field in FIG. 4B indicatesthe number of octets occupied by the corresponding subfield, accordingto an example embodiment.

The BA control field 400 corresponds to the BA control field 352, in anembodiment. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4A, the BA controlfield 400 includes a BA Ack policy subfield 402 (1 bit), a multi-trafficclass identifier (multi-TID) subfield 404 (1 bit), a compressed bitmapsubfield 406 (1 bit), a GroupCast with Retries (GCR) subfield 408 (1bit), a reserved subfield 410 (8 bits), and a TID information (TID INFO)subfield 412 (4 bits). In some embodiments, one or more of the subfields402, 404, 406, 408, 410, and 412 are combined into a single subfield. Inan embodiment, for example, the BA Ack policy subfield 402, themulti-TID subfield 404, the compressed bitmap subfield 406, and the GCRsubfield 408 are combined into a single subfield.

The BA information field 420 corresponds to the BA information field354, in an embodiment. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4B, the BAinformation field 420 includes a per TID information (PER TID INFO)subfield 422 (2 octets), a Block Ack starting sequence control subfield424 (2 octets), and a Block Ack bitmap subfield 426 (8 octets). The perTID information subfield 422 indicates a particular traffic class ID(TID) for the instance of the BA information field 420. In variousembodiments, for example, the per TID information subfield 422 indicatesa TID of 0, 1, 2, . . . 6, or 7. The Block Ack starting sequence controlfield 424 indicates a sequence number corresponding to the first one ofthe data units being acknowledged, and each bit of the Block Ack bitmapfield 426 acknowledges a data unit with a sequence number that equalsthe sequence number indicated by the Block Ack starting sequence controlfield 424 plus the index of the bit. Thus, for example, the first bit(bit index 0) of the Ack bitmap field 426 acknowledges the data unitwith the sequence number indicated by the Block Ack starting sequencecontrol field 424, the second bit (bit index 1) of the Block Ack bitmapfield 426 acknowledges the data unit with a sequence number indicated bythe Block Ack starting sequence control field 424 plus 1, etc., in anembodiment. In an embodiment, the value of each bit of Block Ack bitmapfield 426 indicates whether the corresponding data unit was successfullyreceived by the AP 14. For example, a value of logic one (1) of a bit ofBlock Ack bitmap field 426 indicates that the corresponding data unitwas successfully received by the AP 14, and a value of logic zero (0) ofa bit of Block Ack bitmap field 426 indicates that the correspondingdata unit was not successfully received (e.g., not received or receivedwith an error) by the AP 14.

The per TID information subfield 440 corresponds to the per TIDinformation subfield 422, in an embodiment. In the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 4C, the per TID information subfield 440 includes areserved subfield 442 (12 bits) and a TID value subfield 444 (4 bits).The TID value subfield 444 indicates a value for a TID of thecorresponding BA information field 420. In an embodiment, for example,the MPDU 300 acknowledges frames corresponding to TIDs of 0, 3, and 7.In this embodiment, the MPDU 300 includes three instances of the BAinformation field 420 where the first instance has a TID value of 0 inthe TID value subfield 444 of the per TID information field 422, thesecond instance has a TID value of 3 in the TID value subfield 444 ofthe per TID information field 422, and the third instance has a TIDvalue of 7 in the TID value subfield 444 of the per TID informationfield 422.

The BA control field 400 and the BA information field 420 are similar tothe BA control field and BA information field of the BlockAck frameformat as defined by the IEEE 802.11-2012 Standard. Although the BAcontrol field 400 and the BA information field 420 allow foracknowledgments to MPDUs from multiple TIDs (e.g., a multi-TID blockacknowledgment), the multi-TID block acknowledgment does not support ablock acknowledgment for multiple TIDs from multiple client stations.

In various embodiments and/or scenarios, the AP 14 and/or client station25 negotiate to utilize multi-TID block acknowledgments in OFDMA orMU-MIMO transmissions. In some embodiments, an AP 14 or client station25 announces whether it supports a multi-TID A-MPDU (e.g., an A-MPDUhaving A-MPDU subframes with at least some different TIDs). When aclient station 25 announces support for a multi-TID A-MPDU, the AP 14with which the client station 25 is associated may transmit A-MPDUshaving multiple TIDs to the client station 25. When the AP 14 announcessupport for a multi-TID A-MPDU, the client station 25 may transmit anA-MPDU having multiple TIDs to the AP 14. In some embodiments, the AP 14and the client 25 negotiate to determine an individual buffer size forat least some TIDs. In an embodiment, the AP 14 and the client 25negotiate to determine an overall buffer size for a multi-TID A-MPDU.

FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, and FIG. 5C are diagrams of an example aggregate MPDU(A-MPDU) 500, an example A-MPDU subframe 520, and an example MPDUdelimiter 530, according to an embodiment. The number above each fieldin FIG. 5B indicates the number of octets occupied by the correspondingsubfield, according to an example embodiment. The number below eachfield in FIG. 5C indicates the number of bits occupied by thecorresponding subfield, according to an example embodiment. The A-MPDU500 includes a sequence of an integer number N of A-MPDU subframes,where N is one, two, three, or more. In the illustrated embodiment, theA-MPDU 500 includes A-MPDU subframes 502, 504, and 506, which arefollowed by an optional end of frame (EoF) padding field 508.

The A-MPDU subframe 520 corresponds to one or more of the A-MPDUsubframes 502, 504, or 506, in an embodiment. The A-MPDU subframe 520includes an MPDU delimiter field 522 (4 bytes), an MPDU 524 having avariable length, and optionally a padding field 526 (0 to 3 bytes). TheMPDU delimiter 530 corresponds to the MPDU delimiter 522, in anembodiment. The MPDU delimiter 530 includes an end of frame (EOF)subfield 532 (1 bit), a reserved subfield 534 (1 bit), an MPDU lengthsubfield 536 (14 bits), a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) subfield 538 (8bits), and a delimiter signature subfield 540 (8 bits).

In an embodiment and/or scenario, the EOF field 532 is set to 0 bydefault, but is set to 1 i) in an A-MPDU subframe that has a value of 0in the MPDU length subfield 536 and is used to pad the A-MPDU in a VHTPPDU, or ii) in an MPDU delimiter of a VHT single MPDU. In thisembodiment, the AP 14 or client station 25 sets the EOF field 532according to the IEEE 802.11ac Standard (Section 8.6, Aggregate MPDU).

In some embodiments and/or scenarios, the AP 14 or client station 25aggregates a management frame or a data frame that corresponds to anormal acknowledgment (e.g., which asks for Ack) within an OFDMA A-MPDU,for example, within the A-MPDU 500. However, the acknowledgment policybits of the QoS control field 314 by themselves do not provide for anindication to differentiate Ack and BA within an A-MPDU. In someembodiments and/or scenarios, the AP 14 or client station 25 sets i) theacknowledgment policy bits of the corresponding QoS control field 314 toimmediate Ack/BA, and ii) sets the EOF field 532 of the correspondingMPDU delimiter 530 to 1 and the MPDU Length field 534 to a non-zerovalue in order to indicate an acknowledgment policy for thecorresponding MPDU within an OFDMA A-MPDU. In an embodiment and/orscenario, the AP 14 sets the acknowledgment policy bits and the EOFfield 532 so that an MPDU having an acknowledgment policy correspondingto a normal acknowledgment request (e.g., Normal Ack Request) can besent within an OFDMA A-MPDU. In other words, the AP 14 utilizes the EOFfield 532 and the MPDU Length field 534 to differentiate between anormal acknowledgment request and a block acknowledgment request.

In an embodiment and/or scenario, for example, the AP 14 generates anA-MPDU that includes a “normal ACK” MPDU that has an acknowledgmentpolicy corresponding to a Normal Ack Request. In other words, arecipient of the normal ACK MPDU within the A-MPDU is requested toacknowledge the receipt of the normal ACK MPDU by transmitting anacknowledgment frame after a short interframe space (SIFS) period afterthe A-MPDU. In this embodiment and/or scenario, the AP 14 sets the EOFfield 532 to 1, sets the MPDU length field 536 to a non-zero value, andsets the acknowledgment policy bits of the corresponding QoS controlfield 314 to a normal acknowledgment policy (e.g., a value of “00”). Insome embodiments and/or scenarios, the normal ACK MPDU includes amanagement frame. In an embodiment, the AP 14 generates the A-MPDU toinclude multiple normal ACK MPDUs within an OFDMA A-MPDU. In anembodiment, for example, the AP 14 generates the A-MPDU to include atmost one frame from each TID corresponding to a normal acknowledgment(e.g., which asks for Ack).

In some embodiments and/or scenarios, the AP 14 generates an A-MPDU thatincludes a “block ack” MPDU that has an acknowledgment policycorresponding to a block acknowledgment, for example, an immediate blockacknowledgment (e.g., where the recipient responds with a BlockAck aftera SIFS period) or a delayed block acknowledgment (e.g., where therecipient waits for receipt of a BlockAckReq frame before providing anacknowledgment). In an embodiment and/or scenario for an immediateBlockAck, the AP 14 sets the EOF field 532 to 0, sets the MPDU lengthfield 536 to a non-zero value, and sets the acknowledgment policy bitsof the corresponding QoS control field 314 to an implicit blockacknowledgment request (e.g., a value of “00”). In an embodiment and/orscenario, in response to the receipt of an MPDU corresponding to an EOFfield 532 being set to 0 and the implicit block acknowledgment request,the recipient acknowledges the MPDU with a BlockAck after a SIFS period.

In some embodiments and/or scenarios for a delayed block acknowledgment,the AP 14 sets the EOF field 532 to 0, sets the MPDU length field 536 toa non-zero value, and sets the acknowledgment policy bits of thecorresponding QoS control field 314 to an explicit block acknowledgmentrequest (e.g., a value of “11”).

FIG. 6A, FIG. 6B, and FIG. 6C are diagrams of an example BA controlfield 600, an example BA information field 620, and an example per TIDinformation subfield 640, according to an embodiment. The number beloweach field in FIG. 6A and FIG. 6C indicates the number of bits occupiedby the corresponding subfield, according to an example embodiment. Thenumber above each field in FIG. 6B indicates the number of octetsoccupied by the corresponding subfield, according to an exampleembodiment.

The BA control field 600 corresponds to the BA control field 352, in anembodiment. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6A, the BA controlfield 600 includes a BA Ack policy subfield 602 (1 bit), a multi-TIDsubfield 604 (1 bit), a compressed bitmap subfield 606 (1 bit), a GCRsubfield 608 (1 bit), an orthogonal frequency division multiple access(OFDMA) Block Ack subfield 610 (1 bit), a reserved subfield 612 (7bits), and a TID information (TID INFO) subfield 614 (4 bits). Subfields602, 604, 606, 608, and 614 of BA control field 600 generally correspondto subfields 402, 404, 406, 408, and 414 of BA control field 400 (FIG.4A), in an embodiment. The BA control field 600 additionally includesthe OFDMA Block Ack subfield 610 as a bit taken from the reservedsubfield 410 as compared to the BA control field 400.

The BA information field 620 corresponds to the BA information field354, in an embodiment. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6B, the BAinformation field 620 includes a per TID information (PER TID INFO)subfield 622 (2 octets), a Block Ack starting sequence control subfield624 (2 octets), and a Block Ack bitmap subfield 626 (8 octets).Subfields 622, 624, and 626 of BA information field 620 generallycorrespond to subfields 422, 424, and 426 of the BA information field420, in an embodiment.

The per TID information subfield 640 corresponds to the per TIDinformation subfield 622, in an embodiment. In the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 6C, the per TID information subfield 640 includes anAck Policy subfield 642 (1 bit), an Ack Bitmap subfield 644 (9 bits), areserved subfield 646 (2 bits), and a TID value subfield 648 (4 bits).The TID value subfield 648 indicates a value for a TID of thecorresponding BA information field 620.

The AP 14 or client station 25 generates the MPDU 350 with the BAcontrol field 600 and the BA information field 620 as a unicast framewhich includes block acknowledgments and/or single acknowledgments, invarious embodiments and/or scenarios. In an embodiment, each blockacknowledgment indicates respective acknowledgments for multiple MPDUsbelonging to a single TID and each single acknowledgment indicates anacknowledgment for a single MPDU belonging to a single TID. In someembodiments and/or scenarios, the AP 14 or client station 25 utilizesthe single acknowledgment to indicate an acknowledgment for a managementframe by setting the corresponding TID value subfield 648 to apredetermined value (e.g., a value greater than 7, a value of 15, orother suitable value).

The OFDMA Block Ack subfield 610 indicates whether the MPDU 350 is anOFDMA multi-TID block acknowledgment, in various embodiments and/orscenarios. In an embodiment, the AP 14 or client station 25 sets theOFDMA Block Ack subfield 610 and the Ack Policy subfield 642 topredetermined values to indicate that the per TID information subfield640 includes the acknowledgment bitmap 644 (e.g., by setting bothsubfields to “1”). In this embodiment, the Block Ack starting sequencecontrol field 624 and the block ack bitmap 626 are omitted and theacknowledgment bitmap 644 provides an acknowledgment. In an embodiment,for example, bits 1 to 8 of the acknowledgment bitmap 644 indicatewhether MPDUs from TID0 through TID7, respectively, are acknowledged. Inan embodiment, bit 9 of the acknowledgment bitmap 644 indicates whethera management frame is acknowledged.

Although the acknowledgment bitmap 644 is shown as a subfield within theper TID information field 640, in other embodiments, the acknowledgmentbitmap 644 is a separate field (e.g., a 2 octet field) that follows theper TID information field 622 when the OFDMA Block Ack subfield 610indicates that the Block Ack starting sequence control field 624 and theblock ack bitmap 626 are omitted. In other words, the OFDMA Block Acksubfield 610 indicates whether the per TID information field 622 isfollowed by the Block Ack starting sequence control field 624 and theblock ack bitmap 626 or followed by the acknowledgment bitmap. Inanother embodiment, the OFDMA Block Ack subfield 610 indicates whetherthe acknowledgment bitmap 644 precedes the per TID information subfield622 (e.g., the acknowledgment bitmap 644 follows the BA control field600). In this embodiment, when none of the MPDUs are being acknowledged,the acknowledgment bitmap 644 is set to zero.

FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B are diagrams of an example BA control field 700 andan example BA information field 720, according to an embodiment. The BAcontrol field 700 corresponds to the BA control field 352, in anembodiment. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7A, the BA controlfield 700 includes a BA Ack policy subfield 702 (1 bit), a multi-TIDsubfield 704 (1 bit), a compressed bitmap subfield 706 (1 bit), a GCRsubfield 708 (1 bit), an OFDMA Block Ack subfield 710 (1 bit), amanagement acknowledgment subfield 712 (1 bit), a reserved subfield 714(6 bits), and a TID information (TID INFO) subfield 716 (4 bits).Subfields 702, 704, 706, 708, 710, and 716 of BA control field 700generally correspond to subfields 602, 604, 606, 608, 610, and 614 ofthe BA control field 600, in an embodiment. Instead of using 9-bit Ackbitmap to indicate Ack for a data frame and a management frame, the BAcontrol field 700 additionally includes the management acknowledgmentsubfield 712 as a bit taken from the reserved subfield 612 as comparedto the BA control field 600. The BA information field 720 corresponds tothe BA information field 354, in an embodiment. In the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 7B, the BA information field 720 includes a per TIDinformation (PER TID INFO) subfield 722 (2 octets), a Block Ack startingsequence control subfield 724 (2 octets), and a Block Ack bitmapsubfield 726 (8 octets). In an embodiment, the per TID info subfield 640having a length of 8 bits for the acknowledgment bitmap 644 is part ofBlock Ack frame.

The BA control field 700 and the BA information field 720 are generallysimilar to the BA control field 600 and the BA information field 620,except that the BA control field 700 also includes the managementacknowledgment subfield 712. The AP 14 or client station 25 sets themanagement acknowledgment subfield 712 (or another suitable bit of theBA control field 700) to a value that acknowledges receipt of amanagement frame.

FIG. 8A, FIG. 8B, and FIG. 8C are diagrams of an example BA controlfield 800, BA information field 820, and a per station multi-TID blockack subfield 840, according to an embodiment. The BA control field 800corresponds to the BA control field 352, in an embodiment. In theembodiment illustrated in FIG. 8A, the BA control field 800 includes aBA Ack policy subfield 802 (1 bit), a multi-TID subfield 804 (1 bit), acompressed bitmap subfield 806 (1 bit), a GCR subfield 808 (1 bit), anorthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) Block Ack subfield810 (1 bit), a reserved subfield 812 (7 bits), and a TID information(TID INFO) subfield 814 (4 bits). The subfields 802, 804, 806, 808, 810,812, and 814 of the BA control field 800 generally correspond to thesubfields 602, 604, 606, 608, 610, 612, and 614 of the BA control field600, in an embodiment.

The AP 14 or client station 25 generates the MPDU 350 with the BAcontrol field 800 and the BA information field 820 as a broadcast framewhich includes a multi-TID block acknowledgment for multiple stations oras a unicast frame which includes a multi-TID block acknowledgment for asingle station, in various embodiments and/or scenarios. In anembodiment, the AP 14 sets the OFDMA BA field 810 to a predeterminedvalue (e.g., “1”) and sets the corresponding receiver address 310-1 to abroadcast receiver address to indicate that the MPDU 350 is an OFDMAmulti-TID block acknowledgment. In an embodiment, the client station setthe OFDMA BA field 810 to a predetermined value (e.g., “1”) and sets thecorresponding receiver address 310-1 to the MAC address of the AP 14 toindicate that the MPDU 350 is a multi-TID block acknowledgment.

The BA information field 820 corresponds to the BA information field354, in an embodiment. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8B, the BAinformation field 820 includes an integer number N of per stationmulti-TID block ack subfields 822. The per station multi-TID block acksubfield 840 corresponds to the per station multi-TID block acksubfields 822, in an embodiment. An instance of the per stationmulti-TID block ack subfield 840 is provided for each client stationwith a corresponding acknowledgment within a data unit, in anembodiment. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8C, the per stationmulti-TID block ack subfield 840 includes a length subfield 842 (2octets), a device identifier subfield 844 (2 octets), a per stationBlock Ack control subfield 846 (2 octets), and a per station Block Ackinformation subfield 848 (variable number of octets). The deviceidentifier subfield 844 includes an identifier associated with thedevice or client station 25 for which corresponding acknowledgmentinformation is intended, in an embodiment. In various embodiments and/orscenarios, the device identifier 844 is an association ID (e.g., 11bits). In an embodiment and/or scenario, the device identifier 844includes a partial association ID (e.g., 9 bits) and one or morereserved or unused bits. The length subfield 842 indicates a length ofthe corresponding per station multi-TID block ack subfield 822. The perstation Block Ack control subfield 846 and the per station Block Ackinformation subfield 848 are similar to the BA control field 400 and theBA information field 420, in an embodiment. In another embodiment, theper station Block Ack control subfield 846 and the per station Block Ackinformation subfield 848 are similar to those in the IEEE 802.11REV mcStandard. In an embodiment, the per station Block Ack control subfield846, the length subfield 842, and the device identifier 844 are at leastpartially combined to have a total length of four octets or anothersuitable length.

FIG. 9A, FIG. 9B, and FIG. 9C are diagrams of a first example BAinformation field 920, a second example BA information field 940, and anexample per TID information subfield 950, according to an embodimentand/or scenario. In an embodiment, the AP 14 or client station 25generates an MPDU 350 that includes the BA control field 800 (FIG. 8A)and one or more of the BA information field 920 and/or the BAinformation field 940. In this embodiment, the MPDU 350 is a broadcastframe where the OFDMA BA field 810 indicates that the MPDU 350 includesblock acknowledgments for multiple TIDs of multiple client stations or aunicast frame where the OFDMA BA field 810 indicates that the MPDU 350includes block acknowledgments for multiple TIDs of a single clientstation.

The BA information field 920 corresponds to the BA information field354, in an embodiment and/or scenario. In the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 9A, the BA information field 920 includes a per TID information(PER TID INFO) subfield 922 (2 octets), a Block Ack starting sequencecontrol subfield 924 (2 octets), and a Block Ack bitmap subfield 926 (8octets). Subfields 924 and 926 of BA information field 920 generallycorrespond to subfields 424 and 426 of the BA information field 420, inan embodiment. The BA information field 940 corresponds to the BAinformation field 354, in an embodiment and/or scenario. In anembodiment, the Block Ack starting sequence control subfield 924 and theBlock Ack bitmap subfield 926 are optional in the BA Information field920. In an embodiment, for example, the Ack/BA field 954 indicateswhether the Block Ack starting sequence control subfield 924 and theBlock Ack bitmap subfield 926 follow the per TID information subfield922 in the BA Information field 920. In the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 9B, the BA information field 940 includes a per TID informationsubfield 942 (2 octets) and an acknowledgment bitmap 944 (2 octets). Theacknowledgment bitmap 944 is similar to the acknowledgment bitmap 644,with additional bits being reserved (e.g., eight bits for TIDs 0 to 7,one bit for a management frame, and seven reserved bits).

The per TID information subfield 950 corresponds to the per TIDinformation subfield 922 or the per TID information subfield 942, invarious embodiment and/or scenarios. In the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 9C, the per TID information subfield 950 includes a deviceidentifier 952 (11 bits), an acknowledgment type subfield 954 (1 bit),and a TID value subfield 956 (4 bits). The device identifier 952includes an identifier associated with the device or client station 25for which corresponding acknowledgment information is intended, in anembodiment. In various embodiments and/or scenarios, the deviceidentifier 952 is an association ID (e.g., 11 bits). In an embodimentand/or scenario, the device identifier 952 includes a partialassociation ID (e.g., 9 bits) and one or more reserved or unused bits.In various embodiments and/or scenarios, when the per TID informationfield 922 or 942 includes AID information for a client station (e.g., anassociation ID or partial association ID), the block ack frame is abroadcast frame which includes multiple different AID values or is aunicast frame which includes same AID values for different TIDs.

The acknowledgment type subfield 954 indicates the type or format of thecorresponding BA information field, in various embodiments and/orscenarios. In an embodiment, for example, a first value (e.g., “0”) forthe acknowledgment type subfield 954 indicates that the corresponding BAinformation field follows the format of the BA information field 920 anda second value (e.g., “1”) for the acknowledgment type subfield 954indicates that the corresponding BA information field follows the formatof the BA information field 940. In other embodiments, other suitablevalues and/or formats are utilized. The TID value subfield 956 includesa value that corresponds to the traffic class of the correspondingacknowledgment information, in an embodiment. In an embodiment, the TIDvalue subfield 956 is reserved if the Ack/BA subfield 954 indicates anAck acknowledgement where the BA information field 920 doesn't includethe Block Ack Start Sequence Control field 924 and the Block Ack Bitmap926. In an embodiments, the AP 14 or client station 25 sets theacknowledgment type subfield 954 to the second value for a singleacknowledgment (e.g., similar to the BA information field 940) and setsthe TID value subfield 956 to a value of the TID that is beingacknowledged or to a predetermined value (e.g., 15) to indicateacknowledgment of a management frame. In one such embodiment, theacknowledgment bitmap 944 is omitted.

FIG. 10A, FIG. 10B, FIG. 10C, and FIG. 10D are diagrams of an example BAcontrol field 1000, an example BA information field 1020, an example perTID information subfield 1040, and an example BA starting sequencecontrol field 1050, according to an embodiment. The number below eachfield in FIG. 10A, FIG. 10C, and FIG. 10D indicates the number of bitsoccupied by the corresponding subfield, according to an exampleembodiment. The number above each field in FIG. 10B indicates the numberof octets occupied by the corresponding subfield, according to anexample embodiment.

The AP 14 or client station 25 generates the MPDU 350 with the BAcontrol field 1000 and the BA information field 1020 as a broadcastframe which includes a multi-TID block acknowledgment for multiplestations or as a unicast frame which includes a multi-TID blockacknowledgment for a single station, in various embodiments and/orscenarios. The BA control field 1000 corresponds to the BA control field352, in an embodiment. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 10A, the BAcontrol field 1000 includes a BA Ack policy subfield 1002 (1 bit), amulti-traffic class identifier (multi-TID) subfield 1004 (1 bit), acompressed bitmap subfield 1006 (1 bit), a GroupCast with Retries (GCR)subfield 1008 (1 bit), a reserved subfield 1010 (8 bits), and a TIDinformation (TID INFO) subfield 1012 (4 bits). In some embodiments, oneor more of the subfields 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008, 1010, and 1012 arecombined into a single subfield. In an embodiment, for example, the BAAck policy subfield 1002, the multi-TID subfield 1004, the compressedbitmap subfield 1006, and the GCR subfield 1008 are combined into asingle subfield.

The BA information field 1020 corresponds to the BA information field354, in an embodiment. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 10B, the BAinformation field 1020 includes a per TID information (PER TID INFO)subfield 1022 (2 octets), a Block Ack starting sequence control subfield1024 (2 octets), and a Block Ack bitmap subfield 1026 (variable numberof octets). The per TID information subfield 1022 indicates a particulartraffic class ID (TID) for the instance of the BA information field1020. In an embodiment, the Block Ack starting sequence control subfield1024 and the Block Ack bitmap subfield 1026 are optional fields in theBA information field 1020. In an embodiment, for example, anacknowledgment type subfield 1044 (described below) indicates whetherthe Block Ack starting sequence control subfield 1024 and the Block Ackbitmap subfield 1026 follow the per TID information subfield 1022.

The per TID information subfield 1040 corresponds to the per TIDinformation subfield 1022, in an embodiment. In the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 10, the per TID information subfield 1040 includes adevice identifier subfield 1042 (11 bits), an acknowledgment typesubfield 1044 (1 bit), and a TID value subfield 1046 (4 bits). In anembodiment, the device identifier subfield 1042, the acknowledgment typesubfield 1044, and the TID value subfield 1046 generally correspond tothe device identifier subfield 952, the acknowledgment type subfield954, and the TID value subfield 956 of the per TID information subfield950 where the per TID information subfield is not reserved. In anembodiment, for each TID that requires an Ack acknowledgement, thefollowing three subfields exist: the device identifier subfield 1042,the acknowledgment type subfield 1044, and the TID value subfield 1046.In an embodiment, the AP 14 or client station 25 sets the TID valuesubfield to a predetermined value (e.g., a value greater than 7, a valueof 15, or other suitable value) to indicate an acknowledgment of amanagement frame.

The Block Ack starting sequence control subfield 1050 corresponds to theblock ack starting sequence control subfield 1024, in an embodiment. Inthe illustrated embodiment, the Block Ack starting sequence controlsubfield 1050 includes a block ack bitmap length indication 1052 (2bits), a fragment number 1054 (2 bits), and a sequence number 1056 (12bits). In other embodiments, the block ack bitmap length indicationincludes more bits or fewer bits. In other embodiments, the block ackbitmap length indication 1052, the fragment number 1054, and thesequence number 1056 appear in a different order within the Block Ackstarting sequence control field 1050. The block ack bitmap lengthindication 1052 indicates the length of the block acknowledgment bitmap1026, in various embodiments. In an embodiment, the bitmap lengthindication is a subfield having one or more bits where the value of thebits indicates one length of a plurality of predetermined lengths. In anembodiment, for example, the bitmap length indication includes two bitsfor four values corresponding to four predetermined lengths of 4 octets,8 octets, 16 octets, and 32 octets. In other embodiments, other suitablenumbers of pluralities of predetermined lengths (e.g., two differentlengths, eight different lengths, etc.) and/or other values of thepredetermined lengths are utilized. The length of the blockacknowledgment bitmap 1026 of a TID is less than the buffer size definedduring block acknowledgment negotiation (e.g., ADDBA negotiation), insome embodiments.

The sequence number 1056 indicates a sequence number corresponding tothe first one of the data units being acknowledged, and each bit of theBlock Ack bitmap field 1026 acknowledges a data unit with a sequencenumber that equals the sequence number 1056 plus the index of the bitwithin the Block Ack bitmap field 1026, in an embodiment. Thus, forexample, the first bit (bit index 0) of the Block Ack bitmap field 1026acknowledges the data unit with the sequence number indicated by theBlock Ack starting sequence control field 1024, the second bit (bitindex 1) of the Block Ack bitmap field 1026 acknowledges the data unitwith a sequence number indicated by the Block Ack starting sequencecontrol field 1024 plus 1, etc., in an embodiment. In an embodiment, thevalue of each bit of Block Ack bitmap field 1026 indicates whether thecorresponding data unit was successfully received by the AP 14.

In an embodiment, the AP 14 or client station 25 generates the MPDU 350with the BA control field 1000 and the BA information field 1020, butreplaces the block ack starting sequence control field 1024 and theblock ack bitmap 1026 with the block ack starting sequence control field424 and the block ack bitmap 1026, respectively. In other words, theblock ack bitmap has a predetermined size instead of a variable size. Inthis embodiment, the acknowledgment type subfield 1044 indicates whetherthe Block Ack starting sequence control subfield 424 and the Block Ackbitmap subfield 426 follow the per TID information subfield 1022. Inother words, the acknowledgment type subfield 1044 differentiatesbetween an Ack or Block Ack for the TID value indicated by the TIDinformation field 1046.

FIG. 11A, FIG. 11B, and FIG. 11C are diagrams of an example BAinformation field 1120, a first example per TID information subfield1140, and a second example per TID information subfield 1160, accordingto an embodiment. The number below each field in FIG. 11B and FIG. 11Cindicates the number of bits occupied by the corresponding subfield,according to an example embodiment. The number above each field in FIG.11A indicates the number of octets occupied by the correspondingsubfield, according to an example embodiment.

The AP 14 or client station 25 generates the MPDU 350 with the BAcontrol field 800 and the BA information field 1120 as a broadcast framewhich includes a multi-TID block acknowledgment for multiple stations ora unicast frame which includes a multi-TID block acknowledgment for asingle station, in various embodiments and/or scenarios. The BAinformation field 1120 corresponds to the BA information field 354, inan embodiment. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 11A, the BAinformation field 1120 includes a per TID information subfield 1122 (2octets), a data acknowledgment bitmap 1124 (1 octet), a TID bitmap 1126(1 octet), zero, one, or multiple combinations of BA starting sequencecontrol fields 1128 (2 octets), and Block Ack bitmap 1130 (variablenumber of octets).

The data Ack 1124 indicates single acknowledgments for single MPDUsbelonging to a particular TID, in an embodiment. In an embodiment, forexample, each bit of the data acknowledgment bitmap 1124 corresponds toone of TID0 to TID7 and indicates whether the MPDU of the correspondingTID is acknowledged (e.g., a value of “1” for an acknowledgment and avalue of “0” for a negative acknowledgment).

The TID bitmap 1126 provides an indication for block acknowledgments, inan embodiment. In an embodiment, for example, each bit of the TID bitmap1126 corresponds to a respective traffic identifier value (e.g., TID0 toTID7) and indicates whether a respective block acknowledgment startingsequence control field 1128 and block acknowledgment bitmap 1130 ispresent within the first acknowledgment information field for thecorresponding traffic identifier value. In other words, a respectiveblock acknowledgment starting sequence control field 1128 and blockacknowledgment bitmap 1130 is provided for each traffic identifier valueindicated by the TID bitmap 1126. The Block Ack starting sequencecontrol field 1128 and the Block Ack bitmap 1130 generally correspond tothe Block Ack starting sequence control field 1024 and the Block Ackbitmap 1026 of the BA information field 1020.

The per TID information subfield 1140 corresponds to the per TIDinformation subfield 1122, in an embodiment. In the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 11B, the per TID information subfield 1140 includesa device identifier 1142 (11 bits), a management acknowledgment subfield1144 (1 bit), and a reserved subfield 1146 (4 bits). The deviceidentifier 1142 generally corresponds to the device identifier 952, inan embodiment. The management acknowledgment subfield 1144 generallycorresponds to the management acknowledgment subfield 712, in anembodiment.

The per TID information subfield 1160 corresponds to the per TIDinformation subfield 1122, in an embodiment. In the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 11C, the per TID information subfield 1160 includesa device identifier 1162 (11 bits), a management acknowledgment subfield1164 (1 bit), an acknowledgment indication 1166 (1 bit), and a reservedsubfield 1168 (3 bits). The device identifier 1162 and managementacknowledgment subfield 1164 generally corresponds to the deviceidentifier 1142 and the management acknowledgment subfield 1144, in anembodiment. The acknowledgment indication 1166 indicates whether thedata acknowledgment bitmap 1124 is present, in some embodiments. In anembodiment, for example, a first value (e.g., “0”) indicates that theMPDU 350 does not include single acknowledgments and that the dataacknowledgment bitmap 1124 is omitted.

FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B are diagrams of an example BA information field1220 and an example per TID information subfield 1240, according to anembodiment. FIG. 13A and FIG. 13B are diagrams of an example BAinformation field 1320 and an example per TID information subfield 1340,according to an embodiment. The number below each field in FIG. 12B andFIG. 13B indicates the number of bits occupied by the correspondingsubfield, according to an example embodiment. The number above eachfield in FIG. 12A and FIG. 13A indicates the number of octets occupiedby the corresponding subfield, according to an example embodiment.

The AP 14 or client station 25 generates the MPDU 350 with the BAcontrol field 800 and the BA information field 1220 or the BAinformation field 1320 as a broadcast frame which includes a multi-TIDblock acknowledgment for multiple stations or a unicast frame whichincludes a multi-TID block acknowledgment for a single station, invarious embodiments and/or scenarios. The BA information field 1220 andBA information field 1320 correspond to the BA information field 354, inan embodiment. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 12A, the BAinformation field 1220 includes a per TID information subfield 1222 (2octets), a BA starting sequence control field 1224 (2 octets), and aBlock Ack bitmap 1226 (variable number of octets). The BA startingsequence control field 1224 and the BA bitmap 1226 generally correspondto the BA starting sequence control field 924 and the BA bitmap 926 ofthe BA information field 920, in an embodiment.

The per TID information subfield 1240 corresponds to the per TIDinformation subfield 1222, in an embodiment. In the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 12B, the per TID information subfield 1240 includesa device identifier 1242 (11 bits), a single block acknowledgmentsubfield 1244 (1 bit), and a TID value subfield 1246 (4 bits). Thedevice identifier 1242 and the TID value subfield 1246 generallycorrespond to the device identifier 952 and the TID value subfield 956of the per TID information field 950, in an embodiment.

The BA information field 1320 corresponds to the BA information field354, in an embodiment. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 13A, the BAinformation field 1320 includes a per TID information subfield 1322 (2octets), a data acknowledgment bitmap 1324 (1 octet), a TID bitmap 1326(1 octet), a BA starting sequence control field 1328 (2 octets), and aBlock Ack bitmap 1330 (variable number of octets). The per TIDinformation subfield 1322, the data acknowledgment bitmap 1324, the TIDbitmap 1326, the BA starting sequence control field 1328, and the BlockAck bitmap 1330 generally correspond to the per TID information subfield1122, the data acknowledgment bitmap 1124, the TID bitmap 1126, the BAstarting sequence control field 1128, and the Block Ack bitmap 1130 ofthe BA information field 1120, in an embodiment.

The per TID information subfield 1340 corresponds to the per TIDinformation subfield 1322, in an embodiment. In the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 13B, the per TID information subfield 1340 includesa device identifier 1342 (11 bits), a single block acknowledgmentsubfield 1344 (1 bit), a management acknowledgment subfield 1346 (1bit), an acknowledgment indication 1348 (1 bit), a multi-Block Ackindication 1350 (1 bit), and a reserved subfield 1352 (1 bit). Thedevice identifier 1342, the single block acknowledgment subfield 1344,the management acknowledgment subfield 1346, and the acknowledgmentindication 1348 correspond to the device identifier 1242, the singleblock acknowledgment subfield 1244, the management acknowledgmentsubfield 1144, and the acknowledgment indication 1166, in an embodiment.The multi-Block Ack indication 1350 indicates whether multiple blockacknowledgment bitmaps are present, for example, whether the TID bitmap1326, the Block Ack starting sequence control field 1328, and the blockacknowledgment bitmap 1330 are present, in some embodiments. In anembodiment, for example, a first value (e.g., “0”) indicates that theMPDU 350 does not include block acknowledgment for particular TIDs andthat the TID bitmap 1326, the Block Ack starting sequence control field1328, and the block acknowledgment bitmap 1330 are omitted.

The single block acknowledgment subfields 1244 and 1344 indicate thetype or format of the corresponding per TID information subfield and BAinformation field, in various embodiments and/or scenarios. In anembodiment, for example, a first value (e.g., “0”) corresponds to asingle acknowledgment and indicates that the per TID information field1240 and BA information field 1220 are utilized, and a second value(e.g., “1”) corresponds to a block acknowledgment and indicates that theper TID information field 1340 and the BA information field 1320 areutilized.

FIG. 14 is a diagram of an example per TID information subfield 1440,according to an embodiment. The number below each field in FIG. 14indicates the number of bits occupied by the corresponding subfield,according to an example embodiment. The AP 14 or client station 25generates the MPDU 350 with the BA control field 800 and the BAinformation field 1320 as a broadcast frame which includes a multi-TIDblock acknowledgment for multiple stations or a unicast frame whichincludes a multi-TID block acknowledgment for a single station, invarious embodiments and/or scenarios.

The per TID information subfield 1440 corresponds to the per TIDinformation subfield 1322, in an embodiment. In the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 14, the per TID information subfield 1440 includes adevice identifier 1442 (11 bits), a single block acknowledgment subfield1444 (1 bit), a management acknowledgment subfield 1446 (1 bit), and areserved subfield 1448 (4 bits). The device identifier 1442 and themanagement acknowledgment subfield 1446 correspond to the deviceidentifier 1242 and the management acknowledgment subfield 1144, in anembodiment. The single block acknowledgment subfield 1444 indicateswhether the data acknowledgment bitmap 1324, the TID bitmap 1326, the BAstarting sequence control field 1328, and the Block Ack bitmap 1330 arepresent within the BA information field 1320, in an embodiment.

FIG. 15A, FIG. 15B, FIG. 15C, and FIG. 15D are diagrams of an example BAinformation field 1520, an example per TID information subfield 1540, anexample BA information field 1570, and an example per TID informationsubfield 1590, according to an embodiment. The number below each fieldin FIG. 15B and FIG. 15D indicates the number of bits occupied by thecorresponding subfield, according to an example embodiment. The numberabove each field in FIG. 15A and FIG. 15C indicates the number of octetsoccupied by the corresponding subfield, according to an exampleembodiment.

The AP 14 or client station 25 generates the MPDU 350 with the BAcontrol field 800 and the BA information field 1520 or the BAinformation field 1570 as a broadcast frame which includes a multi-TIDblock acknowledgment for multiple stations or a unicast frame whichincludes a multi-TID block acknowledgement for an single station, invarious embodiments and/or scenarios. The BA information field 1520corresponds to the BA information field 354, in an embodiment. In theembodiment illustrated in FIG. 15A, the BA information field 1520includes a per TID information subfield 1522 (2 octets) and anacknowledgment bitmap 1524 (2 octets). The per TID information subfield1540 corresponds to the per TID information subfield 1522, in anembodiment. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 15B, the per TIDinformation subfield includes a device identifier 1542 (11 bits), anacknowledgment indication 1544 (1 bit), and a reserved subfield 1546 (4bits). The device identifier 1542 corresponds to the device identifier952, in an embodiment. Each bit of the acknowledgment bitmap 1524indicates an acknowledgment for a respective TID, in an embodiment. Inan embodiment, one bit (e.g., bit 15) of the acknowledgment bitmap 1524indicates an acknowledgment of a management frame.

The BA information field 1570 corresponds to the BA information field354, in an embodiment. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 15C, the BAinformation field 1540 includes a per TID information subfield 1572 (2octets), a block acknowledgment starting sequence control field 1574 (2octets), and a block acknowledgment bitmap 1576 (2 octets). The blockacknowledgment starting sequence control field 1574 and the blockacknowledgment bitmap 1576 generally correspond to the BA startingsequence control field 1128, and the Block Ack bitmap 1130, in anembodiment.

The per TID information subfield 1590 corresponds to the per TIDinformation subfield 1572, in an embodiment. In the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 15D, the per TID information subfield includes adevice identifier 1592 (11 bits), an acknowledgment indication 1594 (1bit), and a TID value subfield 1596 (4 bits). The device identifier 1592and the TID value subfield 1596 correspond to the device identifier 952and the TID value subfield 956, in an embodiment.

The acknowledgment indication 1544 and 1594 indicate the type or formatof the corresponding per TID information subfield and BA informationfield, in various embodiments and/or scenarios. In an embodiment, forexample, a first value (e.g., “0”) corresponds to a singleacknowledgment and indicates that the per TID information field 1540 andBA information field 1520 are utilized, and a second value (e.g., “1”)corresponds to a block acknowledgment and indicates that the per TIDinformation field 1590 and the BA information field 1570 are utilized.

FIG. 16A and FIG. 16B are diagrams of an example BA information field1620 and an example per TID information subfield 1640, according to anembodiment. The number below each field in FIG. 16B indicates the numberof bits occupied by the corresponding subfield, according to an exampleembodiment. The number above each field in FIG. 16A indicates the numberof octets occupied by the corresponding subfield, according to anexample embodiment.

The AP 14 or client station 25 generates the MPDU 350 with the BAcontrol field 800 and the BA information field 1620 as a broadcast framewhich includes a multi-TID block acknowledgment for multiple stations ora unicast frame which includes a multi-TID block acknowledgement for asingle station, in various embodiments and/or scenarios. The BAinformation field 1620 corresponds to the BA information field 354, inan embodiment. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 16A, the BAinformation field 1620 includes a per TID information subfield 1622 (2octets), a TID bitmap 1624 (1 octet), a BA starting sequence controlfield 1626 (2 octets), and a Block Ack bitmap 1628 (variable number ofoctets). The TID bitmap 1624, the BA starting sequence control field1626, and the Block Ack bitmap 1628 generally correspond to the TIDbitmap 1126, the BA starting sequence control field 1128, and the BlockAck bitmap 1130 of the BA information field 1120, in an embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method 1700 forsimultaneously communicating with multiple communication devices in awireless local area network, according to an embodiment. In anembodiment, the method 1700 is implemented by a client station in theWLAN, according to an embodiment. With reference to FIG. 1, the method1700 is implemented by the network interface 27, in an embodiment. Forexample, in one such embodiment, the PHY processor 29 is configured toimplement the method 1700. According to another embodiment, the MACprocessing 28 is also configured to implement at least a part of themethod 1700. With continued reference to FIG. 1, in yet anotherembodiment, the method 1700 is implemented by the network interface 16(e.g., the PHY processor 20 and/or the MAC processor 18). In otherembodiments, the method 1700 is implemented by other suitable networkinterfaces.

At block 1702, multiple uplink data units simultaneously transmitted bymultiple second communication devices are received at a firstcommunication device, in an embodiment. The multiple uplink data unitsinclude a management data unit and a traffic data unit, in anembodiment. In an embodiment, for example, the AP 14 receives the OFDMAdata unit 250 that includes MPDUs 300 from multiple client stations 25.

At block 1704, an acknowledgment data unit to acknowledge receipt of themultiple data units simultaneously transmitted by the multiple secondcommunication devices is generated at the first communication device, inan embodiment. The acknowledgment data unit includes (i) an indicationthat indicates that the acknowledgment data unit is intended for themultiple second communication devices, and (ii) respectiveacknowledgment information fields for the multiple second communicationdevices, in an embodiment. The respective acknowledgment informationfields include a first acknowledgment information field for themanagement data unit and a second acknowledgment information field forthe traffic data unit, in an embodiment. In an embodiment, the AP 14sets a receiver address 310-1 to a broadcast receiver address toindicate that the acknowledgment data unit is intended for the multiplesecond communication devices. The respective acknowledgment informationfields include one or more of the BA information fields 420, 620, 720,820, 920, 940, 1020, 1120, 1220, 1320, 1520, 1570, or 1620, in variousembodiments and/or scenarios.

At block 1706, the acknowledgment data unit is caused to be transmittedfrom the first communication device to the multiple second communicationdevices, in an embodiment.

In another embodiment, the method 1700 is performed using single userPPDUs as follows.

At block 1702, an aggregate medium access control (MAC) protocol dataunit (MPDU) A-MPDU that includes multiple data units is received at afirst communication device from a second communication device. Themultiple data units correspond to two or more traffic classes identifiedby different traffic identifiers. In an embodiment, the firstcommunication device is the AP 14 and the second communication device isa client station 25. In another embodiment, the first communicationdevice is the client station 25 and the second communication device isthe AP 14.

At block 1704, an acknowledgment data unit is generated to acknowledgereceipt of the multiple data units. The acknowledgment data unitincludes (i) an indication that indicates that the acknowledgment dataunit is intended for the second communication device, and (ii)respective acknowledgment information fields for the two or more trafficclasses.

At block 1706, the acknowledgment data unit is caused to be transmittedfrom the first communication device to the second communication device.

FIG. 18 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method 1800 forcommunicating an acknowledgment policy for a data unit in a wirelesslocal area network, according to an embodiment. In an embodiment, themethod 1800 is implemented by a client station in the WLAN, according toan embodiment. With reference to FIG. 1, the method 1800 is implementedby the network interface 27, in an embodiment. For example, in one suchembodiment, the PHY processor 29 is configured to implement the method1800. According to another embodiment, the MAC processing 28 is alsoconfigured to implement at least a part of the method 1800. Withcontinued reference to FIG. 1, in yet another embodiment, the method1800 is implemented by the network interface 16 (e.g., the PHY processor20 and/or the MAC processor 18). In other embodiments, the method 1800is implemented by other suitable network interfaces.

At block 1802, a first medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit(MPDU) of an aggregate MPDU intended for a second communication deviceis generated at a first communication device. In an embodiment, forexample, the AP 14 generates the MPDU 524.

At block 1804, an MPDU delimiter is generated for the first MPDU thatindicates an acknowledgment policy for the first MPDU to be followed bythe second communication device. In an embodiment, for example, the AP14 generates the MPDU delimiter 522 and sets the EOF field 532 toindicate an acknowledgment policy, as described above with respect toFIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, and FIG. 5C.

At block 1806, generating, at the first communication device, theaggregate MPDU to include the MPDU delimiter and the first MPDU. In anembodiment, for example, the AP 14 generates the A-MPDU 500 to includethe A-MPDU subframe 520.

At block 1808, the aggregate MPDU is caused to be transmitted from thefirst communication device to the second communication device.

FIG. 19 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method 1900 forsimultaneously communicating with multiple communication devices in awireless local area network, according to an embodiment. In anembodiment, the method 1900 is implemented by a client station in theWLAN, according to an embodiment. With reference to FIG. 1, the method1900 is implemented by the network interface 27, in an embodiment. Forexample, in one such embodiment, the PHY processor 29 is configured toimplement the method 1900. According to another embodiment, the MACprocessing 28 is also configured to implement at least a part of themethod 1900. With continued reference to FIG. 1, in yet anotherembodiment, the method 1900 is implemented by the network interface 16(e.g., the PHY processor 20 and/or the MAC processor 18). In otherembodiments, the method 1900 is implemented by other suitable networkinterfaces.

At block 1902, multiple uplink data units simultaneously transmitted bymultiple second communication devices are received at a firstcommunication device, in an embodiment. The multiple uplink data unitsinclude a plurality of traffic data units that is (i) from a secondcommunication device of the multiple second communication devices, and(ii) includes traffic data units corresponding to multiple trafficidentifiers. In an embodiment, for example, the AP 14 receives the OFDMAdata unit 250 that includes MPDUs 300 from multiple client stations 25.

At block 1904, an acknowledgment data unit is generated at the firstcommunication device to acknowledge receipt of the multiple data unitssimultaneously transmitted by the multiple second communication devices,in an embodiment. The acknowledgment data unit includes (i) anindication that indicates that the acknowledgment data unit is intendedfor the multiple second communication devices, and (ii) respectiveacknowledgment information fields for the multiple second communicationdevices, in an embodiment. The respective acknowledgment informationfields include a first acknowledgment information field for theplurality of traffic data units, in an embodiment.

At block 1906, the acknowledgment data unit is caused to be transmittedfrom the first communication device to the multiple second communicationdevices, in an embodiment.

In another embodiment, the method 1900 is performed as follows.

At block 1902, multiple uplink data units simultaneously transmitted bymultiple second communication devices are received. The multiple uplinkdata units include a plurality of traffic data units that is (i) from asecond communication device of the multiple second communicationdevices, and (ii) includes traffic data units corresponding to multipletraffic identifier values.

At block 1904, an acknowledgment data unit is generated to acknowledgereceipt of the multiple data units simultaneously transmitted by themultiple second communication devices. The acknowledgment data unitincludes (i) an indication that indicates that the acknowledgment dataunit is intended for the multiple second communication devices, and (ii)respective acknowledgment information fields for the multiple secondcommunication devices. The respective acknowledgment information fieldsinclude a first acknowledgment information field for the plurality oftraffic data units.

At block 1906, the acknowledgment data unit is caused to be transmittedfrom the first communication device to the multiple second communicationdevices.

In this embodiment, generating the acknowledgment data unit includesgenerating the first acknowledgment information field for the pluralityof traffic data units to include, for each traffic identifier value ofthe multiple traffic identifier values to be acknowledged, (i) anidentifier associated with the second communication device, (ii) anacknowledgment type indication, and (iii) the traffic identifier valueto be acknowledged. the acknowledgment type indication has one or morebits set to one of a plurality of predetermined values including atleast a first predetermined value and a second predetermined value. Thefirst predetermined value indicates a normal acknowledgment of a singledata unit for the corresponding traffic identifier value, and the secondpredetermined value indicates that a block acknowledgment bitmap followsthe traffic identifier value to be acknowledged, where each bit of theblock acknowledgment bitmap indicates an acknowledgment of a single dataunit of the plurality of traffic data units having the correspondingtraffic identifier value.

Further aspects of the present invention relate to one or more of thefollowing clauses.

In an embodiment, a method for simultaneously communicating withmultiple communication devices in a wireless local area networkincludes: receiving, at a first communication device, multiple uplinkdata units simultaneously transmitted by multiple second communicationdevices, wherein the multiple uplink data units include a managementdata unit and a traffic data unit; generating, at the firstcommunication device, an acknowledgment data unit to acknowledge receiptof the multiple data units simultaneously transmitted by the multiplesecond communication devices, wherein the acknowledgment data unitincludes (i) an indication that indicates that the acknowledgment dataunit is intended for the multiple second communication devices, and (ii)respective acknowledgment information fields for the multiple secondcommunication devices, wherein the respective acknowledgment informationfields include a first acknowledgment information field for themanagement data unit and a second acknowledgment information field forthe traffic data unit; and causing the acknowledgment data unit to betransmitted from the first communication device to the multiple secondcommunication devices.

In other embodiments, the method includes any suitable combination ofone or more of the following features.

In an embodiment, each of the respective acknowledgment informationfields includes (i) a respective identifier associated with a secondcommunication device of the multiple second communication devices forwhich the respective acknowledgment information field is intended, (ii)a respective traffic identifier corresponding to uplink data units ofthe multiple uplink data units being acknowledged by the respectiveacknowledgment information field, and (iii) a respective acknowledgmenttype indication having one or more bits set to one of a plurality ofpredetermined values including at least a first predetermined value anda second predetermined value. In an embodiment, the first predeterminedvalue indicates that the acknowledgment data unit includes anacknowledgment that acknowledges a single data unit received from thesecond communication device and the second predetermined value indicatesthat the acknowledgment data unit includes a block acknowledgment thatacknowledges multiple data units received from the second communicationdevice.

In an embodiment, generating the acknowledgment data unit includessetting the traffic identifier of the first acknowledgment informationfield for the management data unit to a predetermined value reserved formanagement data units. In an embodiment, for example, the AP 14 sets aTID value to a predetermined value (e.g., a value greater than 7, avalue of 15, or other suitable value).

In an embodiment, generating the acknowledgment data unit includesgenerating the second acknowledgment information field to include (i) anacknowledgment type indication set to the second predetermined value,(ii) a block acknowledgment bitmap having a variable length, and (iii) abitmap length indication that indicates the length of the blockacknowledgment bitmap, wherein each bit of the block acknowledgmentbitmap indicates an acknowledgment of a single data unit of the multipleuplink data units. In an embodiment, the acknowledgment type indicationcorresponds to the acknowledgment type subfield 1044 set to a valuecorresponding to the BA information field 1020. In this embodiment, theblock acknowledgment bitmap corresponds to the block acknowledgmentbitmap 1026 having a length indicated by the BA bitmap length 1052.

In an embodiment, generating the acknowledgment data unit includesgenerating at least two of the respective acknowledgment informationfields that have (i) a same value of the identifier associated with thesecond communication device, and (ii) different values of the trafficidentifier corresponding to the uplink data units of the multiple uplinkdata units being acknowledged by the respective acknowledgmentinformation field.

In an embodiment, the at least two of the respective acknowledgmentinformation fields include the first acknowledgment information fieldfor the management data unit and the second acknowledgment informationfield for the traffic data unit.

In an embodiment, the first acknowledgment information field for themanagement data unit includes a management acknowledgment field thatindicates whether the management data unit was successfully received.

In an embodiment, a first communication device that simultaneouslycommunicates with multiple communication devices in a wireless localarea network, the first communication device includes: a networkinterface device having one or more integrated circuits configured toreceive multiple uplink data units simultaneously transmitted bymultiple second communication devices, wherein the multiple uplink dataunits include a management data unit and a traffic data unit, generatean acknowledgment data unit to acknowledge receipt of the multiple dataunits simultaneously transmitted by the multiple second communicationdevices, wherein the acknowledgment data unit includes (i) an indicationthat indicates that the acknowledgment data unit is intended for themultiple second communication devices, and (ii) respectiveacknowledgment information fields for the multiple second communicationdevices, wherein the respective acknowledgment information fieldsinclude a first acknowledgment information field for the management dataunit and a second acknowledgment information field for the traffic dataunit, and cause the acknowledgment data unit to be transmitted from thefirst communication device to the multiple second communication devices.

In other embodiments, the first communication device includes anysuitable combination of one or more of the following features.

Each of the respective acknowledgment information fields includes (i) arespective identifier associated with a second communication device ofthe multiple second communication devices for which the respectiveacknowledgment information field is intended, (ii) a respective trafficidentifier corresponding to uplink data units of the multiple uplinkdata units being acknowledged by the respective acknowledgmentinformation field, and (iii) a respective acknowledgment type indicationhaving one or more bits set to one of a plurality of predeterminedvalues including at least a first predetermined value and a secondpredetermined value, the first predetermined value indicates that theacknowledgment data unit includes an acknowledgment that acknowledges asingle data unit received from the second communication device, and thesecond predetermined value indicates that the acknowledgment data unitincludes a block acknowledgment that acknowledges multiple data unitsreceived from the second communication device.

The one or more integrated circuits are configured to set the trafficidentifier of the first acknowledgment information field for themanagement data unit to a predetermined value reserved for managementdata units.

The one or more integrated circuits are configured to generate thesecond acknowledgment information field to include (i) an acknowledgmenttype indication set to the second predetermined value, (ii) a blockacknowledgment bitmap having a variable length, and (iii) a bitmaplength indication that indicates the length of the block acknowledgmentbitmap, and each bit of the block acknowledgment bitmap indicates anacknowledgment of a single data unit of the multiple uplink data units.

In an embodiment, a method for communicating an acknowledgment policyfor a data unit in a wireless local area network includes: generating,at a first communication device, a first medium access control (MAC)protocol data unit (MPDU) of an aggregate MPDU intended for a secondcommunication device; generating, at the first communication device, anMPDU delimiter for the first MPDU that indicates an acknowledgmentpolicy for the first MPDU to be followed by the second communicationdevice; generating, at the first communication device, the aggregateMPDU to include the MPDU delimiter, the first MPDU, and one or moresecond MPDUs; causing the aggregate MPDU to be transmitted from thefirst communication device to the second communication device.

In other embodiments, the method includes any suitable combination ofone or more of the following features.

In an embodiment, generating the MPDU delimiter includes generating anend of frame field of the MPDU delimiter having one or more bits set toone of a plurality of predetermined values including at least a firstpredetermined value and a second predetermined value. The firstpredetermined value indicates a normal acknowledgment policy toacknowledge a single data unit to be transmitted to the secondcommunication device. The second predetermined value indicates a blockacknowledgment policy to acknowledge multiple data units to betransmitted to the second communication device.

In an embodiment, the method also includes setting the end of framefield to the second predetermined value. Generating the first MPDUincludes setting an acknowledgment policy field of a quality of service(QoS) control field of the first MPDU to a value that indicates animmediate block acknowledgment or a delayed block acknowledgment policy.

In an embodiment, generating the MPDU delimiter for the first MPDUincludes setting i) an end of frame field of the MPDU delimiter for thefirst MPDU to a predetermined value that indicates a normalacknowledgment policy to acknowledge a single data unit, and ii) an MPDUlength field of the MPDU delimiter for the first MPDU to a non-zerovalue; generating the first MPDU includes setting an acknowledgmentpolicy field of a quality of service (QoS) control field of the firstMPDU to a predetermined value that indicates an immediate blockacknowledgment; and the predetermined value of the end of frame fieldfor the first MPDU, the non-zero value of the MPDU length field for thefirst MPDU, and the predetermined value of the acknowledgment policyfield for the first MPDU indicate that the first MPDU requests an Ack.

In an embodiment, the one or more second MPDUs include normalacknowledgment MPDUs that correspond to a normal acknowledgment policy;the normal acknowledgment MPDUs have respective traffic identifiersselected from a predetermined set of traffic identifiers; and for eachtraffic identifier of the predetermined set of traffic identifiers, thenormal acknowledgment MPDUs include at most one MPDU having the trafficidentifier.

In an embodiment, a method for simultaneously communicating withmultiple communication devices in a wireless local area networkincludes: receiving, at a first communication device, multiple uplinkdata units simultaneously transmitted by multiple second communicationdevices, wherein the multiple uplink data units include a plurality oftraffic data units that is (i) from a second communication device of themultiple second communication devices, and (ii) includes traffic dataunits corresponding to multiple traffic identifiers; generating, at thefirst communication device, an acknowledgment data unit to acknowledgereceipt of the multiple data units simultaneously transmitted by themultiple second communication devices, wherein the acknowledgment dataunit includes (i) an indication that indicates that the acknowledgmentdata unit is intended for the multiple second communication devices, and(ii) respective acknowledgment information fields for the multiplesecond communication devices, wherein the respective acknowledgmentinformation fields include a first acknowledgment information field forthe plurality of traffic data units; and causing the acknowledgment dataunit to be transmitted from the first communication device to themultiple second communication devices. Generating the acknowledgmentdata unit includes generating the first acknowledgment information fieldfor the plurality of traffic data units to include (i) an identifierassociated with the second communication device, (ii) a trafficidentifier bitmap, and (iii) one or more block acknowledgment bitmaps,each bit of the traffic identifier bitmap corresponds to a respectivetraffic identifier value and indicates whether a respective blockacknowledgment bitmap of the one or more block acknowledgment bitmaps ispresent within the first acknowledgment information field for thecorresponding traffic identifier value, and each bit of a blockacknowledgment bitmap of the one or more block acknowledgment bitmapsindicates an acknowledgment of a single data unit of the plurality oftraffic data units having the corresponding traffic identifier value.

In other embodiments, the method includes any suitable combination ofone or more of the following features.

In an embodiment, generating the acknowledgment data unit includesgenerating the first acknowledgment information field for the pluralityof traffic data units to include (i) an identifier associated with thesecond communication device, (ii) a traffic identifier bitmap, and (iii)one or more block acknowledgment bitmaps, in an embodiment. Each bit ofthe traffic identifier bitmap corresponds to a respective trafficidentifier value and indicates whether a respective block acknowledgmentbitmap of the one or more block acknowledgment bitmaps is present withinthe first acknowledgment information field for the corresponding trafficidentifier value, in an embodiment. Each bit of a block acknowledgmentbitmap of the one or more block acknowledgment bitmaps indicates anacknowledgment of a single data unit of the plurality of traffic dataunits having the corresponding traffic identifier value, in anembodiment. The respective acknowledgment information fields include oneor more of the BA information fields 420, 620, 720, 820, 920, 940, 1020,1120, 1220, 1320, 1520, 1570, or 1620, in various embodiments and/orscenarios.

In an embodiment, the first acknowledgment information field includesrespective block acknowledgment starting sequence control fields for theone or more block acknowledgment bitmaps that indicate a length of thecorresponding block acknowledgment bitmap.

In an embodiment, each of the respective acknowledgment informationfields includes (i) an identifier associated with the correspondingsecond communication device, and (ii) an acknowledgment indication thatindicates whether a traffic identifier bitmap is present within theacknowledgment information field.

In an embodiment, a method for simultaneously communicating withmultiple communication devices in a wireless local area networkincludes: receiving, at a first communication device, multiple uplinkdata units simultaneously transmitted by multiple second communicationdevices, wherein the multiple uplink data units include a plurality oftraffic data units that is (i) from a second communication device of themultiple second communication devices, and (ii) includes traffic dataunits corresponding to multiple traffic identifier values; generating,at the first communication device, an acknowledgment data unit toacknowledge receipt of the multiple data units simultaneouslytransmitted by the multiple second communication devices, wherein theacknowledgment data unit includes (i) an indication that indicates thatthe acknowledgment data unit is intended for the multiple secondcommunication devices, and (ii) respective acknowledgment informationfields for the multiple second communication devices, wherein therespective acknowledgment information fields include a firstacknowledgment information field for the plurality of traffic dataunits; and causing the acknowledgment data unit to be transmitted fromthe first communication device to the multiple second communicationdevices. Generating the acknowledgment data unit includes generating thefirst acknowledgment information field for the plurality of traffic dataunits to include, for each traffic identifier value of the multipletraffic identifier values to be acknowledged, (i) an identifierassociated with the second communication device, (ii) an acknowledgmenttype indication, and (iii) the traffic identifier value to beacknowledged, the acknowledgment type indication has one or more bitsset to one of a plurality of predetermined values including at least afirst predetermined value and a second predetermined value, the firstpredetermined value indicates a normal acknowledgment of a single dataunit for the corresponding traffic identifier value, and the secondpredetermined value indicates that a block acknowledgment bitmap followsthe traffic identifier value to be acknowledged, where each bit of theblock acknowledgment bitmap indicates an acknowledgment of a single dataunit of the plurality of traffic data units having the correspondingtraffic identifier value.

In an embodiment, a method for acknowledging data units in a wirelesslocal area network includes: receiving, at a first communication deviceand from a second communication device, an aggregate medium accesscontrol (MAC) protocol data unit (MPDU) A-MPDU that includes multipledata units, wherein the multiple data units correspond to two or moretraffic classes identified by different traffic identifiers; generating,at the first communication device, an acknowledgment data unit toacknowledge receipt of the multiple data units, wherein theacknowledgment data unit includes (i) an indication that indicates thatthe acknowledgment data unit is intended for the second communicationdevice, and (ii) respective acknowledgment information fields for thetwo or more traffic classes; and causing the acknowledgment data unit tobe transmitted from the first communication device to the secondcommunication device.

In other embodiments, the method includes any suitable combination ofone or more of the following features.

In an embodiment, receiving the A-MPDU includes receiving a single userphysical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) that includes the A-MPDU andgenerating the acknowledgment data unit includes generating a singleuser PPDU that includes the acknowledgment data unit.

In an embodiment, the single user PPDU that includes the A-MPDU is anuplink PPDU and the single user PPDU that includes the acknowledgmentdata unit is a downlink PPDU; or the single user PPDU that includes theA-MPDU is a downlink PPDU and the single user PPDU that includes theacknowledgment data unit is an uplink PPDU.

In an embodiment, each of the respective acknowledgment informationfields includes (i) a respective traffic identifier corresponding todata units of the multiple data units being acknowledged by therespective acknowledgment information field, and (ii) a respectiveacknowledgment type indication having one or more bits set to one of aplurality of predetermined values including at least a firstpredetermined value and a second predetermined value. The firstpredetermined value indicates that the acknowledgment data unit includesan acknowledgment that acknowledges a single data unit received from thesecond communication device and the second predetermined value indicatesthat the acknowledgment data unit includes a block acknowledgment thatacknowledges multiple data units received from the second communicationdevice.

At least some of the various blocks, operations, and techniquesdescribed above may be implemented utilizing hardware, a processorexecuting firmware instructions, a processor executing softwareinstructions, or any combination thereof. When implemented utilizing aprocessor executing software or firmware instructions, the software orfirmware instructions may be stored in any computer readable memory suchas on a magnetic disk, an optical disk, or other storage medium, in aRAM or ROM or flash memory, processor, hard disk drive, optical diskdrive, tape drive, etc. The software or firmware instructions mayinclude machine readable instructions that, when executed by one or moreprocessors, cause the one or more processors to perform various acts.

When implemented in hardware, the hardware may comprise one or more ofdiscrete components, an integrated circuit, an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), etc.

While the present invention has been described with reference tospecific examples, which are intended to be illustrative only and not tobe limiting of the invention, changes, additions and/or deletions may bemade to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the scope ofthe invention.

1. (canceled)
 2. A method for transmitting data in a wireless network,the method comprising: generating, at a communication device, anaggregated medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (A-MPDU) to beincluded in a first physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU),wherein the A-MPDU is generated to comprise a plurality of subframes,including at least one of: i) one or more first subframes each having a)a respective end of frame (EOF) subfield set to one, b) a respectivelength subfield set to a respective value greater than zero, and c) arespective first data MAC protocol data unit (MPDU), wherein each firstdata MPDU includes a respective MAC header having a respective trafficidentifier (TID) subfield, and a respective acknowledgment policysubfield set to indicate the first data MPDU is to be acknowledgedthereby starting a predefined time period after an end of the firstPPDU, and wherein each TID subfield in the one or more first subframeshas a respective different value, and ii) a second subframe having a) anEOF subfield set to one, b) a length subfield set to a value greaterthan zero, and c) a management MPDU; wherein the method furthercomprises transmitting the first PPDU.
 3. The method of claim 2, furthercomprising: receiving, at the communication device, a second PPDU thepredefined time period after the end of the first PPDU, wherein thesecond PPDU includes an acknowledgment frame, and wherein: if the firstPPDU includes the one or more first subframes having one or more firstdata MPDUs, the acknowledgment frame includes one or more respectivefirst single acknowledgment fields to respectively acknowledge the oneor more first data MPDUs, and if the first PPDU includes the secondsubframe having the management MPDU, the acknowledgment frame includes asecond single acknowledgment field to acknowledge the management MPDU.4. The method of claim 2, wherein the A-MPDU is generated to furtherinclude a plurality of third subframes that include a plurality ofsecond data MPDUs having acknowledgment policy subfields set to indicatethe second data MPDUs are to be acknowledged with a blockacknowledgment.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the plurality ofsecond data MPDUs include EOF subfields set to zero.
 6. The method ofclaim 4, wherein the acknowledgment policy subfields of the second dataMPDUs are set to indicate the second data MPDUs are to be acknowledgedwith the block acknowledgment starting the predefined time period afterthe end of the first PPDU.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:receiving, at the communication device, a second PPDU beginning thepredefined time period after the end of the first PPDU, wherein thesecond PPDU includes an acknowledgment frame having a blockacknowledgment field to acknowledge the plurality of second data MPDUs;wherein if the first PPDU includes the one or more first subframeshaving one or more first data MPDUs, the acknowledgment frame furtherincludes one or more respective first single acknowledgment fields torespectively acknowledge the one or more first data MPDUs; and whereinif the first PPDU includes the second subframe having the managementMPDU, the acknowledgment frame further includes a second singleacknowledgment field to acknowledge the management MPDU.
 8. The methodof claim 2, wherein the A-MPDU is generated to further include aplurality of third subframes that include a plurality of second dataMPDUs having acknowledgment policy subfields set to indicate the seconddata MPDUs are to be acknowledged with a block acknowledgment only afterthe communication device transmits a second PPDU.
 9. The method of claim8, wherein the plurality of second data MPDUs include EOF subfields setto zero.
 10. The method of claim 8, further comprising: receiving, atthe communication device, a third PPDU the predefined time period afterthe end of the first PPDU, wherein: if the first PPDU includes the oneor more first subframes having one or more first data MPDUs, theacknowledgment frame includes one or more respective first singleacknowledgment fields to respectively acknowledge the one or more firstdata MPDUs, and if the first PPDU includes the second subframe havingthe management MPDU, the acknowledgment frame includes a second singleacknowledgment field to acknowledge the management MPDU; transmitting,by the communication device, the second PPDU after receiving the thirdPPDU; and receiving, at the communication device, a fourth PPDU aftertransmitting the second PPDU, wherein the fourth PPDU includes anacknowledgment frame having a block acknowledgment field to acknowledgethe plurality of second data MPDUs.
 11. The method of claim 2, whereinthe management MPDU includes: a MAC header having a TID subfield; and anacknowledgment policy subfield set to indicate the management MPDU is tobe acknowledged starting the predefined time period after an end of thefirst PPDU.
 12. A communication device for communicating in a wirelessnetwork, the communication device comprising: a wireless networkinterface device having one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configuredto: generate an aggregated medium access control (MAC) protocol dataunit (A-MPDU) to be included in a first physical layer (PHY) protocoldata unit (PPDU), wherein the A-MPDU is generated to comprise aplurality of subframes, including at least one of: i) one or more firstsubframes each having a) a respective end of frame (EOF) subfield set toone, b) a respective length subfield set to a respective value greaterthan zero, and c) a respective first data MAC protocol data unit (MPDU),wherein each first data MPDU includes a respective MAC header having arespective traffic identifier (TID) subfield, and a respectiveacknowledgment policy subfield set to indicate the first data MPDU is tobe acknowledged thereby starting a predefined time period after an endof the first PPDU, and wherein each TID subfield in the one or morefirst subframes has a respective different value, and ii) a secondsubframe having a) an EOF subfield set to one, b) a length subfield setto a value greater than zero, and c) a management MPDU; wherein thewireless network interface device is configured to transmit the firstPPDU.
 13. The communication device of claim 12, wherein the one or moreICs are further configured to: process a second PPDU received thepredefined time period after the end of the first PPDU, wherein thesecond PPDU includes an acknowledgment frame, and wherein: if the firstPPDU includes the one or more first subframes having one or more firstdata MPDUs, the acknowledgment frame includes one or more respectivefirst single acknowledgment fields to respectively acknowledge the oneor more first data MPDUs, and if the first PPDU includes the secondsubframe having the management MPDU, the acknowledgment frame includes asecond single acknowledgment field to acknowledge the management MPDU.14. The communication device of claim 12, wherein the one or more ICsare further configured to generate the A-MPDU to further include aplurality of third subframes that include a plurality of second dataMPDUs having acknowledgment policy subfields set to indicate the seconddata MPDUs are to be acknowledged with a block acknowledgment.
 15. Thecommunication device of claim 14, wherein the one or more ICs arefurther configured to generate the plurality of second data MPDUs toinclude EOF subfields set to zero.
 16. The communication device of claim14, wherein the one or more ICs are further configured to set theacknowledgment policy subfields of the second data MPDUs to indicate thesecond data MPDUs are to be acknowledged with the block acknowledgmentstarting the predefined time period after the end of the first PPDU. 17.The communication device of claim 16, wherein the one or more ICs arefurther configured to: process a second PPDU received beginning thepredefined time period after the end of the first PPDU, wherein thesecond PPDU includes an acknowledgment frame having a blockacknowledgment field to acknowledge the plurality of second data MPDUs;wherein if the first PPDU includes the one or more first subframeshaving one or more first data MPDUs, the acknowledgment frame furtherincludes one or more respective first single acknowledgment fields torespectively acknowledge the one or more first data MPDUs; and whereinif the first PPDU includes the second subframe having the managementMPDU, the acknowledgment frame further includes a second singleacknowledgment field to acknowledge the management MPDU.
 18. Thecommunication device of claim 12, wherein the one or more ICs arefurther configured to generate the A-MPDU to further include a pluralityof third subframes that include a plurality of second data MPDUs havingacknowledgment policy subfields set to indicate the second data MPDUsare to be acknowledged with a block acknowledgment only after thecommunication device transmits a second PPDU.
 19. The communicationdevice of claim 18, wherein the one or more ICs are further configuredto generate the plurality of second data MPDUs to include EOF subfieldsset to zero.
 20. The communication device of claim 18, wherein the oneor more ICs are further configured to: process a third PPDU received thepredefined time period after the end of the first PPDU, wherein: if thefirst PPDU includes the one or more first subframes having one or morefirst data MPDUs, the acknowledgment frame includes one or morerespective first single acknowledgment fields to respectivelyacknowledge the one or more first data MPDUs, and if the first PPDUincludes the second subframe having the management MPDU, theacknowledgment frame includes a second single acknowledgment field toacknowledge the management MPDU; transmit the second PPDU afterreceiving the third PPDU; and process a fourth PPDU received aftertransmitting the second PPDU, wherein the fourth PPDU includes anacknowledgment frame having a block acknowledgment field to acknowledgethe plurality of second data MPDUs.
 21. The communication device ofclaim 12, wherein the one or more ICs are further configured to generatethe management MPDU to include: a MAC header having a TID subfield; andan acknowledgment policy subfield set to indicate the management MPDU isto be acknowledged starting the predefined time period after an end ofthe first PPDU.